Box Score MURRAY, Ky. – The Belmont baseball team (14-9, 2-1) gave up double digit runs for only the second time this season, falling to Murray State (12-10, 0-0) by a score of 11-5 on Wednesday afternoon. With the Bruins win over the Thoroughbreds earlier this season, Belmont and Murray State have now split the season series each of the past four years.
The Bruins went down early, allowing six runs over the course of the first two innings. Belmont finally got on the board with a single run in the third to make it 6-1 in favor of the Thoroughbreds. Sophomore Greg Brody (Dacula, Ga.) walked, and then scored from first on a single by junior Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) and an error by Murray State.
The 'Breds added one of their own in the bottom half of the third, and then tallied two more in the fifth to increase their lead over Belmont to 9-1. The Bruins made things a whole lot closer with four runs in the sixth. Junior Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) started the rally with a solo home run to left center field, his second homer of the season.
Freshman Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) reached base and advanced to second on a throwing error by the Murray State shortstop. Freshman Scott Moses (Englewood, Tenn.) was then hit by a pitch, and the Bruins loaded the bases on a single to right field by senior captain Zac Mitchell (Cordova, Tenn.).
Senior Dylan Craig (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) then drove in Ritchie and Moses with a double to right center. It marked Craig's 19th, and team-leading 20th RBI of the season. Finally, Mitchell scored on an infield single by Akers to make 9-5 in the sixth.
The mid-game rally wasn't enough to come back on Wednesday, as Murray State prevented the Bruins from scoring a single run in the final three innings of play. The Thoroughbreds added a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth to make it an 11-5 final score.
Belmont finished with five runs on nine hits and two errors. Craig led the Bruins at the plate, going three-for-four with a double and two runs batted in. He now leads the team with 20 RBI and his 286 career hits mean that the center fielder is only five shy of being the all-time leader in hits at Belmont.
Akers and Beaty chipped in with a pair of hits each, the latter recording his third double of the year, while Breen added the solo home run to help jump start the sixth inning rally. Junior Tim Bowles (Hendersonville, Tenn.) and freshman Austin Coley (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) were strong on the mound as neither allowed a run out of the bullpen.
Murray State totaled 11 runs on 16 hits and four errors. Bryan Babin improved to 2-1 after allowing no earned runs on just three hits in his three-inning start. Ty Stetson and Noah Zipko each added three-for-four days to lead the Thoroughbreds at the plate.
Belmont will next return home for its first Atlantic Sun Conference series at E.S. Rose Park. The Bruins will host Stetson in a three-game series beginning Friday, March 23 at 4:00 p.m. Saturday's contest is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., while the final game of the series will be Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
All three games will have live audio on the Bruins Sports Network, and the first two contests will be the first ASun.TV tilts of the year for Belmont.
