Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont baseball team (34-24, 17-13) defeated Kennesaw State (32-25, 18-12) by a score of 4-1 to become the first six seed to start the Atlantic Sun Championships with a pair of wins since Campbell in 2000. Sophomore Chase Brookshire (Chattanooga, Tenn.) recorded his third complete game of the season to eliminate the Owls from the tournament.
Brookshire, who struck out a career high nine batters in a 4-3 victory over KSU earlier in the season, gave up a single on the first batter he faced. The Belmont left-hander began dealing from there as he did not allow a single run until there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Brookshire worked himself in and out of a couple of jams throughout the game. He allowed a leadoff triple to Peyton Hart in the fourth, but then struck out the next two batters and ended the inning with a routine ground out. When Kennesaw State catcher Ronnie Freeman led off the sixth with a single to right field, Brookshire received some help from the Bruin defense, who recorded the only double play of the game to keep the base paths clean.
It was not until the ninth inning with two outs that Brookshire found himself in another difficult situation. He gave up a double to Bucky Smith, walked Chris Wages, and then allowed his first and only run of the game on a single by Will Howard. An out on the next at bat gave Belmont the 4-1 victory that moved them into the next round of the tournament.
Brookshire improved to 5-4 on the season after allowing one run on eight hits and striking out five Owl batters. "As a competitor, when you're in a situation like that, you just want to finish it," Brookshire said of his complete game. When asked about the near-shutout, the sophomore replied, "A little disappointed, but I can't complain. In the end we just want to win the game."
The Bruin offense came to the aid of Brookshire in the fourth inning as senior Derek Hamblen (Plano, Texas) broke up KSU starter Bryan Blough's perfect game with a single up the middle. After junior Dylan Craig (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) advanced Hamblen to second on a sacrifice bunt, the Bruin left field scored the first run of the game as senior Nate Woods (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) hit a shot down the left field line.
Two innings later it was senior Matt Zeblo (Raleigh, N.C.) driving in Craig with the first of two RBI doubles on the day to make it 2-0. His bomb to the left center field wall scored Craig from second, who singled to right field earlier in the inning.
After an empty seventh, the Bruins finished their scoring with two in the eighth inning. It was once again the front of the Belmont order getting it done, as Hamblen singled and the stole second base. Craig then drove in Hamblen with a single to center, and Zeblo tallied the aforementioned RBI double to give Belmont a 4-0 lead.
Three half innings later and Belmont tied a program record of 34 wins in a season. The Bruins advanced to the third day of the Atlantic Sun Tournament where they will play the winner of Mercer and Jacksonville. The virtual semifinal contest is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. CT on Friday at Lipscomb University.
Click here for ASun.tv interviews with Head Coach Dave Jarvis and Chase Brookshire
Click here for Photo Gallery of Belmont vs. Kennesaw State
Click here for Atlantic Sun Insider Blog Post
Click here for Full Recap at AtlanticSun.org
