Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The Belmont University baseball team earned a 13-10 victory over Illinois State Sunday afternoon, as it fought back to win the rubber match between the two clubs and claim its first series victory of 2016.
"I think we beat a really good ball club today. We saw a lot of good pitching from them but our team never stopped competing," added Head Coach Dave Jarvis. "They (Illinois State) did such a tremendous job of hitting with two strikes. They forced our pitchers to really have to battle. I was very impressed by that, it was a tremendous challenge all weekend."
Tyler Walsh (Evansville, Ind.) had a monster day at the plate as the 6'5 shortstop recorded three hits and drove in four runs. Five other Bruins recorded multi-hit games, including sophomore Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.) who led the game off with a triple and notched an additional hit while totaling three runs batted in.
Tyler Vaughn (Jonesboro, Ind.) earned the victory for the Bruins. The sophomore right hander was terrific out of the bullpen as he logged 2.1 innings pitched to nab his first win of the year.
After Saturday's loss, it was important that the Bruins come out strong early. Dom Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.), Belmont's starting pitcher, played an integral part in setting the tone as he retired the Redbirds in order to open the contest. After Veltri did his part in the top of the first, Kocher did his, with a lead off triple to right center. The next batter, Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) did a great job of hitting the ball to the right side to cash in the run for Belmont. The Bruins struck first and led 1-0 after one. In the second inning, Veltri continued to pitch effectively and recorded a consecutive 1, 2, 3 frame.
"Everyone's going to force adversity, and things are going to happen. After Saturday happened, I thought our kids did a tremendous job of responding to that. Frustrating things are going to happen, how are you going to respond to it? I think we got a great answer from our team today," added Jarvis.
Veltri ran in to a little bit of trouble in the third inning, as Illinois State recorded a pair of hits and a run to knot things up at one apiece. Rafael Bournigal (Mulberry, Fla.) led off the bottom of the third with a hit, but the Bruins were not able to get anything else going in the bottom half of the inning, and after three the score stood at 1-1. At this point in the game, it looked as if it may be a pitcher's duel of sorts.
The junior hurler, Veltri, pitched around a hit and an error in the top of the fourth but kept the Redbirds at bay. Brennan Washington (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), who had six hits on the team's opening homestand, led off the fourth with a base hit up the middle. Walsh then reached with his first hit of the season to bring up Clay Payne (Powell, Tenn.), who notched his first hit of the season to drive in both Washington and Walsh. Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) was next up, and he singled to left field to extend the rally. After a fielder's choice, Kocher came up big again for the Bruins with a double down the left field line to drive in two Bruins. All told, Belmont compiled four fourth inning runs to put itself in the driver's seat at 5-1.
After the long, bottom of the fourth rally, Veltri trotted back out the mound carrying a 5-1 lead. The 6'1 junior retired the first two Redbirds and looked to be cruising. But the next five hitters would reach base for the Redbirds, including Brian Rodemoyer who ended Veltri's start with a two run homer to left field. Vaughn took over for Veltri and struck out ISU's Owen Miller to end the threat. ISU would tally five runs off Veltri in the fourth.
Despite things ending poorly for Veltri, he pitched a very good ball game ."I thought Dom's performance was a critical factor in the ball game. He gave us a chance to build a lead," said Jarvis. "What happened to him in the fifth inning is on me, I should have gotten him out. I own that completely. He was the difference maker of the day."
Belmont came up to bat in the fifth all of the sudden trailing. The Bruins would respond with an equalizing run as Walsh drove in Nick Egli (Brentwood, Tenn.) and the score was now 6-6.
After Vaughn threw a scoreless top of the inning, Belmont would flex its muscles in the bottom half of the sixth. For the second time in the contest, Belmont led off an inning with a triple but this time it was Hadden. After falling behind 0-2, Bournigal singled to right field to drive in Hadden and put the Bruins on top. An errant pick off by the ISU pitcher allowed Bournigal to advance all the way to the third. Bournigal would score BU's seventh run on a ground out by Holland. After regaining the lead 7-5, Belmont would not relinquish its advantage.
Belmont would score one in the seventh and four in the eighth inning to add some insurance. Connor Etheridge (Springfield, Ill.) came on for Vaughn in the eighth, and recorded a scoreless inning of relief.
Illinois State made it interesting in the top of the ninth. The Redbirds scored four runs during their last at bat, but it was not enough as Josh Tubbs (Camden, Tenn.) finished the game out for Belmont. The final score read 13-10, as Belmont fought hard for to earn a series win over the visiting Redbirds.
The Bruins (2-1) return to action Wednesday, Feb. 24, as they travel to Memphis for a midweek showdown with the Tigers.
