NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Belmont Softball dropped a pair of extra inning contests to Middle Tennessee (10-42) Thursday afternoon as the Bruins dropped the first game of the doubleheader, 2-1, in nine innings of play and followed that with a 4-3 defeat in eight innings.
Game 1: Middle Tennessee 3, Belmont 1
MT scored the first run of the day in the top of the second inning when junior Laura Dukes passed home plate off a Belmont error.
Mia Vierra (Palmdale, Calif.) tied up the contest in the home half of the second as the senior led off the inning with a solo shot to left field. The homer proved to be the third of the season for Vierra.
The game remained tied over the next six innings as Belmont couldn't take advantage of a pair of great opportunities. The Bruins left two on base in the fourth inning and couldn't capitalize on a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the seventh.
Middle Tennessee scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning off three hits and Belmont went three up, three down in its final chance as the Blue Raiders went on for the 3-1 victory.
BU catcher Kim Johnson (Tuscon, Ariz.) led the Bruins offensively as the senior went 2-for-3 on the contest.
Game 2: Middle Tennessee 4, Belmont 3
Belmont jumped out in front of the MT in the nightcap of the doubleheader as the Bruins scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.
The inning was highlighted by an RBI single to right field from freshman catcher Chelsey Deloney (Gardendale, Ala.) .
Middle Tennessee knotted up the contest when the Blue Raiders scored a pair of runs off a pair of hits in the second inning.
MT took the lead, 3-2, in the sixth inning when infielder Austyn Whaley found home plate off a Belmont error.
The two teams found themselves knotted once again when an RBI single from Jordan Daly (Humble, Tex.) scored Kat Hollingsworth (Carrollton, Tex.) in the bottom of the sixth and tied up the contest, 3-3.
Middle Tennesse once again hit Belmont with extra inning heroics as the Blue Raiders scored the go ahead run in the eight inning as the visitors from Murfreesboro edged the Bruins, 4-3.
Five different Bruins notched a hit on the contest, highlighted by a triple from Hollingsworth to lead off the sixth inning. It was the senior's third triple of the season.
Belmont (12-34, 6-17 OVC) closes out its 2014 campaign this weekend as the Bruins host crosstown foe Tennessee State for a three-game series at Rose Park. The two teams meet on Saturday for a single contest beginning at 5 p.m. CT and close out the series Sunday in doubleheader action starting at 2 p.m. CT.
