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Box Score 2 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Despite splitting Saturday's doubleheader with a 2-1 victory in game one and a 5-2 defeat in game two over SIUE, the Belmont University baseball team claimed its first OVC series of the season on Saturday at Rose Park.
Freshman Andy Bean led the Bruins in game one with his first career complete game, collecting a career-high eight strikeouts in the process. Sophomore John Behrends and freshman Mason Landers led Belmont offensively in game two with two hits while juniors Logan Bowen and Kyle Brennan collected three strikeouts each in game two.
Following sophomore pitcher Joshua South's complete game shutout on Friday, Bean's performance was the first time two Belmont pitchers recorded complete games in back-to-back games since Chase Brookshire and Matt Hamann on May 4-5, 2012 against North Florida.
"Josh is a tough act to follow," Bean said. "He threw about as well as you can yesterday, so you knew it was going to take a good effort to get (SIUE) again. You knew they were going to come out and be aggressive, which they were. I was just trying to put the ball in the zone and let them get themselves out and settle in the later innings."
Game 1
After Bean retired SIUE in order in three of the first four innings, Belmont struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning. Two doubles allowed the Bruins to score its first run, with Landers collecting the RBI double with two outs.
Following another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth inning from SIUE, freshman Jack Rando drew a walk in the next half-inning and advanced to second base off a throwing error by SIUE. Advancing to third base off a ground out to first base, the Brentwood, Tenn. native scored the game's second run to give Belmont a 2-0 lead.
SIUE drew a hit by pitch and hit a single to start the top of the sixth inning, advancing the two runners in scoring position following a balk. The Cougars eventually scored a run following a sacrifice fly later in the inning, but Bean forced two straight outs to the outfield to protect the Belmont lead.
Giving up a single in the top of the seventh inning, Bean struck out four of the final seven batters he faced to secure the win and the series for Belmont.
"The wind was kind of playing in today, so you knew balls were going to stay in the yard. So you're relying on your defense to make a lot of those plays for you," Bean said. "(Our defense) has been really good all weekend and I knew behind me that everything was going to get caught and plays were going to get made."
Game 2
Hitting two singles to go with a sacrifice bunt in the top of the third inning, SIUE struck first in the top of the third inning in game two thanks to a sacrifice fly to right field. The Cougars strung together a two-out rally in the next inning, hitting two singles and a double to extend their lead by two runs.
Belmont responded with two singles in the bottom of the fifth inning, tying the score with a two-RBI double from Landers. Following a walk and a hit by pitch in the top of the eighth inning, SIUE took the lead off an RBI double to left field. SIUE followed that up with a two-RBI single, pushing their lead out 5-2.
The Bruins forced three consecutive strikeouts in the top of the ninth inning, getting two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to put the potential tying run at the plate. SIUE, however, forced the Bruins to hit into a groundout to second base that secured the win for the Cougars.
"Overall, you really get excited about what you see from our starting pitching," head coach Dave Jarvis said. "I'm very excited about our pitching staff. Everybody is going to go through some ups and downs and I'm very excited about what our pitching staff is capable of doing."
Belmont (6-9, 3-3) travels to Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, with first pitch set for 3 p.m. The game will not count towards the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
