Box Score
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Behind big bench contributions and tremendous starting pitching, the Belmont University baseball team secured their second-ever trip to the OVC Tournament Championship game with an 8-3 victory over No. 6 Tennessee Tech on Friday at Wild Health Field in Lexington, Ky.
With the victory, Belmont (39-19, 18-6 OVC) matches their program-record for wins in a season (2012), and will appear in Saturday's winner-take-all OVC Tournament Championship game with the automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals on the line. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT., and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Belmont will face the winner of Friday night's elimination game between No. 2 Southeast Missouri and No. 6 Tennessee Tech. There will just be one game on Saturday, with the winner claiming the OVC Tournament Championship.
The Bruins last appeared in the title game in 2017, falling to top top-seeded Tennessee Tech. Belmont last made a trip to the NCAA Regionals in 2012, the last year the Bruins won 39 games and the second year of back-to-back Atlantic Sun championships that put the Bruins into the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.
On Friday, Belmont capitalized on momentum obtained from Thursday's thrilling, come-from-behind, 10-9 walk-off victory over SIUE to jump out to an early 2-0 lead with a two-RBI single from Logan Jarvis that scored Brodey Heaton and Tommy Crider.
After Tennessee Tech tacked on a run in the top of the second inning, the Bruins responded with two more runs on a Heaton single into left field with two outs that scored Jack Capobianco and Guy Lipscomb, bringing the score to 4-1.
On the mound, Joshua South (W, 8-2) delivered a championship-worthy performance, going seven strong innings with just two runs allowed and eight strikeouts against a Golden Eagle lineup that had combined for 31 runs in their previous three OVC Tournament contests.
Tossing 112 pitches, South limited Tennessee Tech, who had hit ten home runs in their previous three games in Lexington, to no home runs.
Belmont added a run on a wild sequence in the seventh inning on a Mason Landers double, with Austin Ehren, in the game as a pinch-runner, slipping after rounding third base and getting caught in a run-down. However, Ehren magically evaded a tag from the Tennessee Tech catcher and dove for home plate to bring the Bruin lead to 5-2.
Logan Jarvis then picked up his sixth RBI of the tournament with a base hit to center field that scored Landers and handed Belmont a 6-2 advantage.
Drew Lowry provided the cherry on top with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field that handed Belmont the 8-2 lead in the eighth inning.
Dominic Baratta and Kyle Brennan limited the Golden Eagles to just one run in the final two innings, giving Belmont the win and getting the Bruins one win away from their first-ever OVC tournament championship and their third-ever trip to the NCAA Regionals.
No. 1 Belmont will face the winner of Friday night's elimination game between No. 2 Southeast Missouri and No. 6 Tennessee Tech on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and live audio play-by-play will be broadcast on the Bruin Sports Network.
