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Box Score 2 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a pair of 10-run outings, the Belmont University baseball team clinched the series against Eastern Illinois by sweeping the doubleheader on Saturday at Rose Park 10-2 and 10-6.
This is the second consecutive season where Belmont has won back-to-back games by scoring double-digit runs. With every starter collecting at least one hit in game two, that marked the first time since March 3, 2020 (at Western Kentucky) that every Bruin hitter in the starting lineup had at least one hit in a game.
Sophomore John Behrends led game one offensively with a 3-for-5 outing at the plate with three RBIs while freshman Andy Bean struck out five batters in eight innings pitched on the mound. Behrends, junior Logan Jarvis and freshman Kevin Okins all collected three hits in game two, with Okins achieving a new career-high.
"Offensively, I thought it was a tremendous response (from yesterday)," head coach Dave Jarvis said. "In all facets of the game, we were pretty good. I thought we were good on the mound in both games. Coach (Caleb) Longshore and his pitching staff did a tremendous job of putting us in good opportunities and working us out of some situations throughout the course of the day. I thought our kids put together quality at-bat after quality at-bat and that was a great difference for us in both ball games."
Game 1
With freshman Jack Rando getting on third base in the bottom of the first inning, Jarvis brought in the game's first run with an RBI triple. Freshman Brodey Heaton followed that up with an RBI single to left field, giving the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
Following a single and stolen base in the top of the third inning, EIU hit an RBI single to right field to cut the deficit in half. Belmont answered back in the bottom of the sixth inning, with freshman Drew Lowry hitting an RBI single after a walk and bunt single to extend Belmont's lead 3-1.
A home run in the top of the seventh inning allowed EIU to cut the deficit to one run again, but a sacrifice fly from Rando and an RBI single from Behrends in the next half-inning pushed Belmont to a 5-2 lead. Two singles and a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning put a pair of runners in scoring position, with Lowry collecting his second RBI of the day that brought in a run.
Freshman Guy Lipscomb followed that at-bat with a sacrifice fly and Okins hit a single up the middle, extending Belmont's lead to six runs. The Bruins capped off their five-run eighth inning with a Behrends single, who drove in two more runs to give Belmont the 10-2 advantage. EIU hit a one-out single in the top of the ninth inning, but a double play allowed the Bruins to take game one.
Game 2
After EIU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Belmont quickly responded with a pair of runs of their own. Behrends hit a two-out single, scoring off a Jarvis triple to get the Bruins' first run in the bottom of the first inning. Heaton followed that up with an RBI single, cutting the EIU lead to one run.
Behrends hit a home run in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game 3-3, with sophomore Carson Shacklett hitting an RBI single after a pair of singles in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave Belmont the lead. A single from Rando in the next at-bat scored another run and pushed the Bruins' lead to two runs.
"Hitting is contagious," Rando said. "When the whole team is hitting, then it's just going to carry on...Honestly one through nine, we're hitting the ball and it's contagious. It's allowing us to see better pitches and feel more comfortable out there."
A single and a double in the bottom of the fifth inning allowed two Belmont runs to score off a ground-rule double from freshman Mason Landers, but EIU responded with two runs in the top of the sixth inning to cut Belmont's lead to two. Following a Belmont run scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning off a wild pitch, EIU hit a home run in the next half-inning to keep it a two-run game.
Going on a two-out rally to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning, Jarvis brought home two more runs with a single to left center field to give Belmont a 10-6 lead. Belmont retired six of EIU's final seven batters, allowing the Bruins to clinch the series and sweep the doubleheader.
"(Winning four out of five games this week) is huge for this team," Okins said. "It's a big turn around in momentum for us and we all came together this week. We turned on the bats and we started having a lot more fun."
Belmont (11-13, 6-6) takes on Lipscomb in the Battle of the Boulevard on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Rose Park. Tuesday will feature two, seven-inning games.
