Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont Baseball dropped its season opener on Friday afternoon, falling to Illinois State by a score of 9-4 in seven innings. Junior Dylan Craig (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and sophomore Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.) each recorded two hits in the rain shortened loss.
"Obviously it's disappointing," head coach David Jarvis said. "I think Illinois State's a good team, but we did not play well at all. We made several miscues and they took advantage of them. We made some mental mistakes and did not capitalize on the scoring opportunities that we had. We left way too many runners in scoring positions without getting key hits when we needed to. If we want a different outcome we're going to need to have a different process than we had today."
The Redbirds got off to a quick start, scoring four runs in the top half of the first inning. An RBI double by Ryan Court and a two run homer from Eric Aguilera, both coming off of Belmont starter Nate Woods (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), gave Illinois State the early 4-0 lead.
After being shut out in the first, the Bruins cut the deficit to 5-3 after three. Sophomore Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw, before getting to third base on a fly out by sophomore Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.). Turner then single to center field to score Akers.
Akers then made it 5-3 in the third when he recorded a two run homer to left field. Craig, who singled to lead off the inning, stole second, advanced to third on an error by the Illinois State pitcher, and then scored on Akers's homer.
Junior Garrett Fanchier (Lebanon, Tenn.) entered the game in relief of Woods to start the fourth. He allowed only one run through the fourth and fifth, but then gave up three in the sixth to make it 9-3 in advantage of the Redbirds. In four full innings Fanchier only allowed one earned run with three strike outs.
After seven innings and over three and a half hours of play and rain delays, the umpires called the game due to inclement weather. Sophomore Cam Verbeke earned the win on the mound for Illinois State. He gave up one run on two hits in two innings pitched. Woods was credited with the loss for the Bruins after giving up five runs on five hits, while striking out four in three innings.
The Redbirds scored nine runs on six hits with two errors in the victory. Belmont scored four runs on seven hits with two errors in their loss. The two teams will be back in action tomorrow for games two and three in a double header beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Shelby Park in Nashville.
"The best thing that can help a team change direction is usually a good pitching performance," Jarvis said. "This is not to put pressure on Chase (Brookshire, Chattanooga, Tenn.), but I'm excited that he's pitching tomorrow in game one. Then we have Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) going in game two, and those are two matchups we are looking forward to."
