Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont baseball team (11-10, 3-3) finished its sweep of Ball State (2-16, 0-0) with an 8-4 win on Sunday afternoon at Shelby Park. Freshman James Buckelew (Suwanee, Ga.) picked up the first win of his career, striking out five in six innings pitched.
Buckelew, now 1-4 on the season, went six innings while allowing only two runs on five hits. He struck out five Ball State batters and walked only two on the day. Junior Garrett Fanchier (Lebanon, Tenn.) entered the game in the seventh, getting out three straight batters on ground outs.
After giving up one run in the eighth inning, and allowing the Cardinals to load the bases, Fanchier was relieved by junior Dane Swinehart (Lancaster, Ohio). Swinehart got the final batter of the inning to ground out to get out of the jam. He then finished the game allowing only one unearned run in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
"I thought our pitching was good again today," Head Coach Dave Jarvis said. "James Buckelew had a good outing, Garrett Fanchier was great in his first inning, and it was great getting Dane Swinehart in there for the save. Dane did a really good job of coming in during the eighth inning and wiggling out of that bases loaded situation, minimizing the damage."
The Belmont pitchers were helped by a good amount of run support, which started in the first inning of play. The third batter for the Bruins, junior Dylan Craig (Signal Mountain, Tenn.), singled to right center field, which scored junior Zac Mitchell (Cordova, Tenn.), who led off the inning getting hit by a pitch.
Craig then scored on senior Tim Egerton's (Smyrna, Tenn.) seventh double of the season. Sophomore Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) then singled to left to score Egerton, but was thrown out by the left fielder as he tried to stretch his base hit into a double.
The Bruins picked up two more runs in the third and sixth innings, before piling on another three in the seventh to virtually put the game away. Senior Nate Woods (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) led off the inning with a double down the left field line, and freshman William Dodd (Murfreesoboro, Tenn.), who pinch ran for Woods, scored the first run of the inning on a ground out by senior Vinny Casha (Nashville, Tenn.). The final two runs for BU came on a two RBI double by freshman Greg Brody (Dacula, Ga.).
Belmont finished with eight runs on nine hits and one error, while Ball State totaled four runs on seven hits and three errors. Buckelew earned the win, improving to 1-4 on the season, while the Cardinals' Morgan Coombs picked up the loss, falling to 0-3 in 2011. Swinehart was credited with the save as he came in with the bases loaded and the tying run on deck for Ball State.
"I was pretty pleased with the way that our defense played today," Jarvis said. "Offensively, we probably could have come up with some more hits during the middle innings of the game. We didn't do a great job of executing our situational hitting with runners on. Fortunately it didn't come back to bite us in the end."
Belmont took the series, winning three games to none over Ball State. "It's a good series win for us," Jarvis concluded. "I'm proud of the kids and the way that they came out and stayed focus throughout the entire weekend."
The Bruins, now 11-10 on the season, will next host Ouachita Baptist on Wednesday, March 23 for a 3:30 p.m. contest at Shelby Park in Nashville. BU will then head on the road for a three-game series at Atlantic Sun Conference foe North Florida from March 25th through the 27th.
