Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont University baseball team picked up another mid-week win on Wednesday at Rose Park, defeating Trevecca Nazarene 6-1.
Sophomore John Behrends drove in a career-high four RBIs while the Bruins used eight pitchers to combine for seven strikeouts while only allowing four Trevecca hits. Graduate student Connor Anderson picked up his first win of the season while fellow graduate student picked up a pair of strikeouts in two innings of work. Freshman Carter Park tallied a pair of strikeouts in 1.1 innings pitched in his Belmont debut.
"I thought today was a tremendous performance by both our pitching staff and our defense," head coach Dave Jarvis said. "I thought our defense really played well. We turned two double plays in clutch situations that I thought were a big factor in today's win. Up and down the line, I thought our guys put together some quality at-bats for us today as well."
A leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning put sophomore Carson Shacklett in scoring position following a sacrifice bunt, with Behrends coming up with the RBI single to put the Bruins on the board. Trevecca tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the second inning, but Belmont took the lead in the next half-inning after a double and stolen base from freshman Guy Lipscomb set up a ground ball RBI hit by freshman Kevin Okins.
After Anderson protected Belmont's one-run lead with a perfect top of the third inning on the mound, freshman Jack Rando got on base with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third inning. Behrends hit his fourth home run of the season in the following at-bat, giving Belmont a 4-1 lead.
"I'm trying to be consistent and be a team player," Behrends said. "I'm trying to cut down on strikeouts. If there's a runner in scoring position, I'm just trying to get him (home)."
Two walks allowed a run to score after freshman Drew Lowry hit an RBI double to right center field to put Belmont ahead by four runs, with Shacklett reaching third base in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out. Behrends again extended Belmont's advantage, hitting into a grounder that drove in Shacklett to put the Bruins ahead 6-1.
Belmont's bullpen followed the offense by retiring 10 straight batters, only allowing two hits during the final five innings. When Trevecca came up with a single in both the eighth and ninth innings, the Belmont defense executed a pair of double plays that ended the top of the eighth inning and set up a two-out groundout in the top of the ninth inning to secure Belmont's second consecutive win.
"The bullpen did a great job today," Anderson said. "Everybody went out there and did the best they could and gave the team the best chance to win. I think it was a great effort today by the bullpen."
Belmont (9-12, 4-5) continues Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday, taking on Eastern Illinois at 4 p.m. at Rose Park.
