March 20, 2010
Game 1: Belmont 8, Lipscomb
3: Box
Score
Game 2: Belmont 12, Lipscomb 10: Box Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Behind two
gutsy pitching performances from Chase Brookshire
and Matt
Hamann, Belmont won both games of a doubleheader with Lipscomb
on Saturday afternoon at Shelby Park.
"I have to give our kids so
much credit for hanging in there the entire day and grinding out
these two wins, especially in the second game when we were behind,"
Head Coach David
Jarvis said. "We dealt with a lot of adversity in the first few
innings of the second game but stayed on task to comeback for the
win."
Junior Derek Hamblen had
two three-hit games and sophomore Dylan Craig had a
total of five hits to extend his hitting streak to 12
games.
In game one Brookshire, a
left-handed freshman was efficient from the mound, setting the tone
for the Bruins' day with five scoreless innings and finishing with
four strikeouts and just one earned run. The Chattanooga native
improved to 3-0 in five starts this season.
"Chase's performance set the
tone for the day and gave our offense a chance to get going against
Lipscomb's pitchers," Jarvis said. "That gave us much-needed
momentum for the day."
Junior Nate Woods backed
Brookshire's outing with five RBI, including a deep grand slam to
left field in the fourth inning, giving Belmont a 6-0
lead.
Lipscomb scored three runs,
two unearned, with two out in the sixth, but Brookshire returned in
the seventh to face four and strikeout one. Enter Matt Hamann in the
eighth. The right-handed sophomore shut the door on the Bisons,
allowing no hits and striking out four in the last two innings to
give Belmont an 8-3 win.
Game two started as an
offensive showcase as Lipscomb took an early 6-1 lead in the first
two innings, only to see the Bruins comeback in the third with five
runs of their own. In the crucial third inning, Belmont batted
through the order as starting pitcher Tim Egerton drove in
two runs with a single through the left side, followed by an RBI
single from Vinny
Casha to put the Bruins within two, 4-6. Freshman Jared Breen drove in
the next two runs on a fielding error by the Lipscomb second
baseman, tying the game at six.
Lipscomb answered again with
another four runs in the fourth inning. And once again, Hamann took
the mound for relief in the fifth inning, this time proving to be
even more dynamic in his second appearance of the day. Hamann
started out by striking out the side in the fifth, and went on to
give up no runs on just two hits through four innings to earn his
third win of the season against a seemingly fluent Lipscomb
offense.
Hamann entered the game in the
fifth inning with the Bruins down 6-10. The Bruins scored four runs
with two outs in the fifth inning to tie the game at 10 and gain
the momentum for a 12-10 series finale win. Matt Zeblo scored the
last two runs for the Bruins in the sixth and eighth innings, each
time driven in by senior Mark Noth.
Junior closer Jon Ivie entered the
game in the ninth to retire the Bisons with two strikeouts en route
to his fifth save of the season. The last out of the game was a
groundout made by a diving Hamblen at second base to cap off the
Bruins' first game without a fielding error.
"If we are going to build a
championship team it is going to be build on pitching and defense
and those two areas in the first part of the season have been
lacking, but I have hope because I know what these kids can do,"
Jarvis said. "You go through cycles during a baseball season and
our pitching and defense has been struggling in this first third. I
know that we have the potential to be much better on the mound and
defensively and we showed that today."
Hamblen, Craig, and Noth each
finished with three hits as the Bruins scored double-digit runs for
the seventh time of the season during game two.
Belmont (13-7, 2-4 A-Sun) wins
back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season
10-0, as Lipscomb falls to 6-13 and 1-2 in the A-Sun after its
first conference series.
The Bruins host Tennessee Tech
on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Shelby Park. Coverage can be heard on the
Bruin Sports Network and viewed at ASun.TV with Rich Tiner at
play-by-play.
