NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University softball team split a pair of contests Saturday afternoon at Rose Park on the second day of the 2014 Music City Classic.
The Bruins knocked off Detroit in the first game of the afternoon, 6-2, while falling to East Tennessee State, 8-2, in its second contest.
GAME 1: Belmont 6, Detroit 2
After waiting through an hour delay due to early morning snow accumulation on a brisk February morning, the bats of the Bruins and Titans got off to an equally cold start as neither team dented the scoreboard through the first two and half innings of the first Music City Classic contest of the day at Rose Park.
That changed, however, in the bottom of the third inning when Detroit knocked in a run off a fielder's choice, as the Titans took the early, 1-0, advantage in the game.
The Bruins didn't wait long to respond as the Belmont bats came alive in the fourth inning.
A Kim Johnson (Tuscon, Ariz.) single to left field, drove in Kat Hollingsworth (Carrollton, Tex.) as Belmont knotted the score.
That proved to be just the beginning of Belmont's arial assault as a single to left field by MJ Lawson (Tucson, Ariz.) knocked in another run for the Bruins.
Junior Kirbie Ferrell (Pasadena, Tex.) and senior Ashley Hammer (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) added to Belmont's offensive explosion as Ferrell's single to center field scored a pair of runs.
Hammer followed that with a single to right field, driving in Ferrell, allowing the Bruins to take a commanding, 5-1, advantage in the game.
Detroit added a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to draw closer, but the Bruins added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning as Belmont went on for the 6-2 victory.
Hammer paced BU's offense as the senior shortstop went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Belmont pitcher Mia Vierra (Palm Dale, Calif.) captured her first victory of the year for the Bruins as the senior threw for four innings, striking out a pair.
GAME 2: ETSU 8, Belmont 2
In the following game, Belmont jumped out to the early, 2-0, advantage in the second inning when freshman Amy Zeronian (Amy Zeronian) hit a double to left field, driving in a pair of runs.
ETSU would answer in the following inning when freshman Taylor Carter hit an RBI single to left field to draw the Buccaneers to within a single run.
The Bucs separated themselves in a decisive fifth inning as ETSU scored four runs, including a two-run home run from senior Jackie Baird, to pull ahead, 5-2.
ETSU added three insurance runs in the seventh inning as the Buccaneers went on for the 8-2 victory.
Belmont's Kirbie Ferrell paced the Bruins offensively as the senior went 2-for-4 on the day.
