Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont University baseball team (19-13) completed a sweep of neighboring Lipscomb University (18-15), with a 5-3 victory over the Bisons Tuesday evening at Dugan Field.
"First and foremost it was an outstanding performance by our pitching staff," said Head Coach Dave Jarvis. "[Sophomore] Connor Etheridge (Springfield, Ill.) gave us a great start followed by an excellent performance from our bullpen who put up six-straight shut out innings, which was the difference maker in this ball game."
Six pitchers saw action in the game for the Bruins as freshman Kyle Klotz (Fairview, Tenn.) came out with the win moving his record to 3-2 on the season. Alex Dorso for Lipscomb suffers his first loss of the season and junior Dom Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) garnered his third save.
Three Bruins posted a multi-hit game; freshman Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.), senior Tyler Fullerton (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and junior Clay Payne (Powell Tenn.) each posted a pair of hits.
"It was a good performance offensively by Hadden who put up two hits and two runs scored," added Jarvis. "Fullerton had a big night for us, as well as Payne who added another two hits on the evening."
Belmont loaded the bases to open up the contest when Hadden was walked, Fullerton hit by a pitch, followed by a walk from BrennanWashington (Murfreesboro, Tenn.). Payne recorded an RBI single for the first run and BU batters drew another pair of walks to bring Fullerton and Washington across the plate.
"I thought our guys did a really good job of grinding it out offensively, we put up a big three spot in the first inning which gave us some breathing room throughout the rest of the game," Jarvis commented.
Lipscomb tied the game at three by putting up three runs in the bottom of the third on three hits.
The Bruins brought another run across the plate in the top of the fifth inning. Hadden stroked a lead off single to open up the inning. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Hadden was driven in by Fullerton who knocked an RBI double which gave the Bruins a 4-3 lead.
"In the end it was a good win against a good ball club," said Jarvis.
Seven of the Bruin starters maintain batting averages over .300 on the season with Hadden leading the way batting .391.
The Bruins return home for a three-game conference series with Austin Peay State University this weekend. The first game will start at 4 p.m. CT on Friday, April 15 at Rose Park.
