Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Despite outhitting the opposition 7-5, the Belmont University baseball team (29-24, 15-12) fell 4-3, to Middle Tennessee Tuesday evening at E.S. Rose Park, the final time the Bruins will compete at home in 2016.
Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) and Clay Payne (Powell, Tenn.) both finished with multi-hit performances and the Bruin bullpen provided seven innings of stability allowing just one earned run.
The 5,6,7 batters in the lineup Payne, Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), and Alex Ward (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) all finished with an RBI for Belmont.
Five Bruins saw action on the hill, limiting the Blue Raiders to just five hits and pitching effectively. Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.) suffered the hardluck loss as he threw two innings and allowed the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Bruins staged a late-inning rally to tie things up, only to see the Blue Raiders push across the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. Needing a run to force extras, the Bruins fell in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the contest.
MTSU opened the scoring in the second as a leadoff walk came back to bite Bruin starter Austin Krzeminski (Roswell, Ga.) in the frame, and the Blue Raiders led 1-0 after 1.5 innings.
Holland led off the Bruin second inning with a walk of his own, and just as the Blue Raiders did, the Bruins punished their counterpart for opening the frame with a walk. After Payne singled to shallow center and Holland moved up to second, Holland came around to score on the Ward base hit.
Krzeminski, starting for the second time on the season against MTSU, logged two innings and allowed one earned run.
The Blue Raiders pushed across two more runs in the third, and did so without recording a hit as wild pitches, walks and an error led to Belmont's demise in the frame. This inning proved to be pivotal as two of MTSU's four scores came across in a rough inning for Belmont. Brandon Liskey (Harrisonburg, Va.) entered for Krzeminski to open the inning but lasted just two batters after walking them both. Kyle Klotz (Fairview, Tenn.) came in the game at this point, and struggled off the bat, throwing two wild pitches which led to a Blue Raider score. After a strikeout, Klotz then coaxed a grounder to Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.), who with a runner on third, decided to come home with it only to see his throw short hop Desi Ammons (Hohenwald, Tenn.) at the plate. It was ruled a throwing error on Kocher as MTSU tallied its third score of the game.
Belmont answered with a score in the bottom of the third as Hadden led off the stanza with a basehit to center and came around to score on an RBI ground out off the bat of Holland.
Through five innings MTSU had scored three times, but managed to do so only by remarkably recording just one hit.
In the sixth MTSU nearly scored again, but this time Kocher made a really nice backhanded play on a ball hit to third and fired home to gun the runner out at the plate for the second out of the stanza.
Just as he did on Friday, sophomore Rafael Bournigal (Mulberry, Fla.) came through with another clutch pinch hit to kick off the bottom of the seventh. Next the Bruins elected to sacrifice bunt, but Kyle Conger's (Brentwood, Tenn.) attempt was too strong as the MTSU pitcher forced Bournigal out at second. Conger made up for it though as he swiped his 21st stolen base, but after a Hadden walk the rally was suddenly stunned when Brennan Washington (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) grounded into a 5-4-3 twin killing. Washington looked to have a single through the left side but MTSU third basemen, Drew Huff, made an excellent sliding grab to snag the grounder and initiate the double play.
In the top of the eighth, Kocher made an outstanding play of his own as he scooped up a slow roller, barehanded it and fired a seed to first base to record the out. Queener tossed a scoreless eighth inning to hold the deficit at just one run.
Ammons continued his hot-hitting as he led the bottom of the eighth off with a hot-shot double down the left field line. Tyler Fullerton (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) then was employed as a pinch runner as Ammons exited the game. Holland stepped into the box and laid down a sacrifice bunt only to see the MTSU pitcher try to peg Fullerton out and third, unsuccessfuly. After Holland reached on the fielder's choice BU had put runners on the corners with nobody out. BU's leading RBI man Payne then came through with a sacrifice fly to score Fullerton and even the score at 3-3. After several throws over, Holland was eventually caught napping as he was picked off at first for the second out of the frame. After a walk, a Belmont ground out would end the inning and the score stood at 3-3 heading into the ninth.
Queener tossed a quick and efficient eighth inning, but ran into some tough luck in the ninth. After a single and a sacrifice bunt, MTSU quickly manufactured a run with an ensuing single to centerfield to put them on top again, 4-3.
The Bruins fell in order in the bottom of the ninth as they suffered a narrow setback in their final time in front of the Rose Park faithful.
Klotz logged a team-high three innings of work and allowed zero earned runs while punching out two batters.
Zach Hodgkiss (Eads, Tenn.) also provided two scoreless innings of duty for BU.
With his knock in the sixth, Payne picked up his team-high 21st double of the season which now ranks him fourth all-time in the Belmont single season record books.
Belmont concludes its 2016 regular season when it travels to SEMO, Thursday for its final series of the year. With just three conference games remaining, the season finale at SEMO looms large.
