MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Belmont Baseball (26-9, 13-2) dropped their midweek contest at Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday, 12-9.
MTSU struck first in the bottom of the first, getting a pair of runs across the plate, but the Bruins responded in the second by taking a 3-2 lead.
Scott Moses (Englewood, Tenn.) led off the inning with a walk before Spencer Petett (Tompkinsville, Ky.) singled to center. An RBI double from Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) got the Bruins on the board. An Alec Diamond (Kennesaw, Ga.) single tied the ball game, 2-2 before MTSU starter Heath Slatton hit Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) with a pitch to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.
MTSU scored eight unanswered runs capped by a sacrifice fly from Michael Adkins' that tied the game at 3-3 before a Belmont error allowed the Blue Raiders to take the lead, 4-3.
A two-run triple to right field from Hank LaRue to put MTSU ahead 6-3 before a pair of singles, extended the Blue Raiders lead, 8-3.
The Blue Raiders added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 10-3 lead over the Bruins.
Belmont responded with five runs in the top of the seventh. Judah Akers led off the inning with a single to left field. With the bases loaded, Moses reached on an error by the MTSU shortstop to score the first run of the inning. Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) scored on a wild pitch before Neil Hickman (Hermitage, Tenn.) grounded into a double play to bring Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.) home.
A two-run home run from Ritchie cut MTSU's lead, 10-8. That was Ritchie's first home run of the season.
MTSU added a run in the bottom half of the inning.
Diamond led off the eighth inning with a successful sacrifice bunt and advanced to second on an MTSU error. A sacrifice fly from Akers allowed Diamond to score, but MTSU plated another run in the bottom half of the inning to extend their lead, 12-9.
Belmont will continue their four-game road swing at Austin Peay this weekend.
