RICHMOND, Ky. – Behind six runs in the first two innings and six runs in the eighth, Belmont Baseball (15-6, 3-1) defeated Eastern Kentucky,14-1 Friday afternoon in OVC action.
Back-to-back singles from Drew Ferguson (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) began the game for the Bruins. Breen's single extended his hit streak to five games, which is tied for the longest active streak on the team.
Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) was issued a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) reached on a fielder's choice to score Ferguson and put the Bruins on the board first, 1-0.
The Bruins loaded the bases twice in the first inning after Matt Beaty (Dresden, Tenn.) was issued a walk. Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.) reached on a fielder's choice to score Davis and an RBI single from Scott Moses (Englewood, Tenn.) scored Akers to give BU a 3-0 lead.
A three-run double to the left center gap by Akers cleared the bases and extended BU's lead to 6-0 in the top of the second.
Belmont sent eight to the plate in the first two innings and scored three runs in each.
Eastern Kentucky right fielder Shaun Ball scored a run for the Colonels in bottom of the fourth behind a fly out to center from Bryan Soloman.
Turner hit a leadoff double to start the fifth for his first hit of the day and a wild pitch from EKU starter Brent Cobb allowed him to advance to third.
Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Turner and give the Bruins a 7-1 lead over the Colonels.
A single from Akers scored Davis, extending the Bruins' lead to 8-1. Davis was walked four times in the game.
Chase Brookshire (Chattanooga, Tenn.) improves his record to 2-1 after six innings of work. The left hander allowed four hits and one unearned run. He struck out five.
Jessie Snodgrass (Lebanon, Tenn.) came on to relieve Brookshire in the bottom of the seventh for his 15th appearance of the season. The left hander closed out the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
EKU's Cobb falls to 2-4 on the season as he went 5.1 innings on the mound, giving up eight hits and eight runs. He walked seven and struck out three.
A single to center from Ferguson put runners on the corners with no outs in the top of the eighth. Ferguson stole his fourth base of the season. A sacrifice fly from Breen brings home Ritchie and an RBI single from Davis scores Ferguson from third.
Three bases loaded walks gave the Bruins a 13-1 lead. Ferguson was hit by a pitch and scored Turner for the sixth run of the eighth. Belmont sent 12 to the plate in the inning with five walks.
Dom Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) came to the hill in the bottom of the eighth for his fifth appearance. The freshman right hander struck out the first batter he faced.
Blake Harvey (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) came on to close the game for the Bruins. EKU's TJ Alas doubled to left to put runners on second and third in the ninth. The Colonels loaded the bases with two outs when Alex Hughes reached first after being hit by a pitch, but the Belmont got out of the jam.
Akers finished the day 4-for-5 with four runs batted in.
Due to inclement weather forecasted for Sunday, the series will conclude tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 CT.
