CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Belmont (0-9) fell in two games in the first day of the UTC Frost Classic Inspired by Memorial. The Bruins lost to Purdue, 1-10 in the first game of the day in six innings of play. Belmont then fell to Ball State, 3-14 in five innings.
Against Purdue, the Bruins struggled defensively out of the gate, giving up three runs in the first inning and two runs in the second. Belmont finally got on the board, scoring its only run in the bottom of the third. Junior Courtney Elrod reached on a walk to open the inning. Senior Hannah Irwin also reached on a one-out walk, putting runners on first and second. Freshman Heather Turner singled, scoring Elrod from second for the Bruins' only run. Belmont surrendered 10 runs on and 12 hits and managed only one run on two hits for the game.
In the second game, the Bruins started much better offensively, answering two Ball State scores in the first inning with two runs of their own, tying the game at 2-2 after one inning of play. Belmont surrendered two more runs in the following inning, but it was two five run innings and difficulty generating runs of their own that doomed the Bruins Friday. Ball State scored five runs in the third inning, increasing their lead to 9-2. Belmont scored a run in the bottom of third inning, making the score 9-3. Ball State added five more runs in the top of the fifth inning to reach the final 14-3 margin. The Bruins surrendered 14 runs on 12 hits, while recording only three runs on five hits themselves.
Belmont returns to action Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Tennessee Tech. The Bruins are 2-24 all time against the Golden Eagles. Belmont will also face Dayton on Saturday. That game is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. The Bruins will conclude play on Sunday against Valparaiso at 10 a.m. Links to livestats, as well as all schedule information, full game recaps, boxscores and statistics are available at www.belmontbruins.com. Fans can also follow the team via Game Changer or on Twitter by searching @BelmontSoftball.
