Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont baseball team (7-8, 3-2) scored nine runs in the fourth inning en route to a 16-7 victory over Kennesaw State (9-6, 3-2) in game two of the weekend series at Shelby Park on Saturday afternoon. A pair of home runs by seniors Tim Egerton (Smyrna, Tenn.) and Matt Zeblo (Raleigh, N.C.) led the Bruin offense in the victory.
"Today's game was much closer than the score indicated," Head Coach David Jarvis said. "They had a circumstance in the top of the fourth where [starting pitcher] Nate [Woods] had the bases loaded with only one out, but he then worked out of it and put up a goose egg on them. And then in the bottom of that inning was when we put up nine runs. That was really the turning point in the ball game; when he was able to work his way out of that jam in the fourth. It was a real testament to his character and his ability to handle adversity."
Nate Woods (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) earned his first win of the season after giving up only three runs on eight hits, three walks, and two strikeouts in five innings pitched as this afternoon's starter for the Bruins. After getting himself out of the aforementioned predicament in the top of the fourth, his teammates managed to finally get the best of KSU starter Bryan Blough, blowing up for nine runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Senior Derek Hamblen (Plano, Texas), who leads Belmont in hits with 19, led off the fourth inning with a double to left field. He then stole third base, and finally scored the first run of the inning when Blough's pick-off attempt on BU junior Dylan Craig (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) went into the Bruin dugout. After Zeblo singled, Egerton jacked a three-run homer over the left field wall to make it 4-0.
Sophomores Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) and Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) both singled before Blough was relieved by Alan Busenitz. The reliever did not fare much better as Belmont put up five more runs in the inning, making it 9-2 after four. A single by sophomore Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.), followed by a walk from junior Zac Mitchell (Cordova, Tenn.), a fielder's choice from Hamblen, and an RBI double by Craig, created the rest of the BU scoring in the inning.
After Woods left the mound to play first base in the sixth inning, Davis came in to pitch the final four innings of the contest. The right-hander gave up only three earned runs on four hits, while walking none and striking out six to earn his first save of the season.
Hamblen, Craig, Zeblo, Egerton, Akers, and Turner all finished with two hits for Belmont. Egerton led with four runs batted in, while Woods recorded one hit and three RBI in only two at bats after switching from pitcher to first base.
The Bruins finished with 16 runs on 14 hits with one error, while Kennesaw State totaled seven runs on 12 hits and three errors. The Owls' Blough falls to 0-1 on the season with the loss, while Woods improves to 1-3 with the victory.
"It's really great to see the days that both Matt Zeblo and Tim Egerton had," Jarvis continued. "If we continue to get them going, and keep getting the production from Dylan [Craig], Derek [Hamblen], and some of the others that have been producing, we will be in good shape offensively. Also Drew Turner, in that nine-hole, did a terrific job turning our lineup over, and keeping things going for us from the back of the order."
The two teams will be back in action on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for the final game of the weekend series at Shelby Park.
