Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont baseball team (6-8, 2-2) scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to come from behind and defeat Kennesaw State (9-5, 3-1) by a score of 4-3 on Friday afternoon at Shelby Park.
Down 3-2, sophomore Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) pinch hit to lead off the ninth inning. On the first pitch, he connected on a shot to left-center to record his first double of the season. The Owls then proceeded to commit three errors in the final inning as Akers and sophomore Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.) scored the two runs that gave Belmont the 4-3 victory.
Turner reached first on a sacrifice bunt that was ruled an error on the second baseman, who muffed the play while covering first base. Sophomore Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) then pinch hit, reaching on a fielder's choice, which scored Akers. Junior Zac Mitchell (Cordova, Tenn.) was final batter of the inning. Turner scored from second base after Mitchell's grounder to the left side of the infield was muffed by the short stop and booted into the outfield.
"It's a huge come from behind win in conference play, Head Coach David Jarvis said. "With the job that [starter Josh] Carr did for them on the mound, and the position that he put them in to win the ball game, it was commendable on his part. For us to come back and steal it in the bottom of the ninth inning off of a very good closer, it makes me proud of our kids and how they grinded it out."
Although it took late inning heroics for the Bruins to end on top, they also put runs on the board early in this one. Belmont took a 1-0 lead in the first when senior Nate Woods (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) drove in Mitchell with a single through the left side of the infield. Mitchell had led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Derek Hamblen (Plano, Texas).
BU increased the lead to 2-0 in the second inning when Hamblen drove in freshman Greg Brody (Dacula, Ga.) on a single to center field. Hamblen got up with the bases loaded after Brody singled, and sophomore Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) and Mitchell walked.
The Owls took the lead in the fifth inning, scoring three runs off of Belmont starter Chase Brookshire (Chattagnooga, Tenn.). The sophomore left-hander held Kennesaw State scoreless for the first four innings, and pitched two more scoreless frames after giving up the lead in the fifth. His final line was three runs on seven hits with a career high nine strikeouts in seven innings pitched.
After securing the save in last week's win over Middle Tennessee, junior Matt Hamann (Northbrook Ill.) was strong once again, earning the win after allowing no runs on no hits and four strikeouts in two innings pitched against KSU. The combination of Brookshire and Hamann held the Owls to only seven hits, and held KSU's Ronnie Freeman without a hit, snapping his 42 game hit streak.
The two teams will face off in game two of the series at Shelby Park, Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. "Tomorrow's another very big ball game, especially with it being conference play," Jarvis added. "We need to defend our home turf, and make sure that we put ourselves in a position to win this series. I'm excited about Nate [Woods] pitching tomorrow. He's been throwing better each time out, and I'm looking for him to give us another quality start tomorrow."
