Box Score CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- Facing a 5-4 deficit heading into the ninth inning, the Belmont University baseball team (31-25, 17-13 OVC) rallied for two runs in the frame and held on for a 6-5 victory over SEMO (35-18, 22-8 OVC) Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field. With the victory the Bruins earned a series win over the Redhawks, the league's first place finisher.
Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) came through with the eventual game-winning hit in the top of the ninth plating Rafael Bournigal (Mulberry, Fla.) from second base. Bournigal came home to score after he tied things at 5-5 with a pinch hit single and then set himself up to score with a crucial stolen base. Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) ignited the rally in the ninth with a lead-off single and put the wheels in motion. Pinch running for Hadden, Zach Lannan (Nashville, Tenn.) scored the game-tying run.
Connor Etheridge (Springfield, Ill.) picked up his third victory of the season pitching the eighth and ninth innings. Etheridge battled to record the final three outs and propel the Bruins to the hardfought road win.
Clay Payne (Powell, Tenn.) finished with two hits including his 10th homerun of the season and wrapped up the weekend with a team-high six hits. Payne was one of five Bruins to finish with a multi-hit effort. Alex Ward (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) finished with two doubles, while Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Hadden both produced two hits apiece. Holland finished 2-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored.
After both Belmont (17-13) and Tennessee Tech (17-13) picked up victories Sunday, Belmont will be the No. 6 seed in the OVC Tournament and is set to take on No. 3 Austin Peay on Wednesday, May 25 at The Ballpark in Jackson.
Belmont opened the scoring in the second when Payne launched one over the leftfield fence for his 10th homerun of the year.
As Bruin starter Dylan King (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) struggled to find the zone, SEMO capitalized with a two-run bottom of the second to answer the Bruins' score and up the ante by one.
The Bruins played small ball in the third to draw things even at 2-2. After Ward led off the stanza with a double down the rightfield line, Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.) laid down a sacrifice bunt. The bunt was fielded by SEMO pitcher Robert Beltran who committed a throwing error allowing Ward to come all the way around to score.
SEMO would score in the bottom of the third and again in the bottom of the fourth, and held a 4-2 heading into the top of the fifth.
It was Payne again who came through for Belmont, when after back-to-back Belmont strikeouts, he smoked an RBI single up the middle to score Conger.
The persistent Redhawks scored again in the bottom of the fifth to extend their advantage back to two runs at 5-3. The score stood at 5-3 until Belmont scratched a run across in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to just one. With two runners on, Kocher shot one through the right side to drive in Holland from second as the Bruins drew closer.
Etheridge twirled a scoreless bottom of the eighth to set up the heroics in the top of the ninth.
In all 11 pitchers were used in the game, as King, Austin Krzeminski (Roswell, Ga.), Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.), Josh Tubbs (Camden, Tenn.) and Etheridge all saw action on the mound for BU.
King, in search of his third-straight win, finished with three innings pitched and allowed three earned runs.
Payne now has a team-high 17 multi-RBI games on the season.
Belmont outhit SEMO, 12-11.
After dropping game one, Belmont rattled off consecutive one-run victories to notch the series win.
The Bruins resume action Wednesday, May 25 when they square off with Austin Peay in the OVC Tournament at 5 p.m. CT from the Ballpark at Jackson.
