LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Belmont University baseball team's run in the OVC Tournament came to a close in the winner-take-all championship game on Saturday afternoon, as the Bruins fell in extra innings to No. 2 Southeast Missouri, 5-4, at Wild Health Field in Lexington, Ky.
Top-seeded Belmont (39-20, 18-6 OVC) led 2-1 in the ninth inning, but gave up a solo home run in the top of the ninth that tied the game and two more home runs in the top of the tenth that allowed the Redhawks to take the lead.
The Bruins mounted a furious rally in the bottom of the tenth inning, getting three straight batters aboard with two outs and scoring two runs to cut the deficit to 5-4 with the tying run on first base and the winning run at the plate, but a Redhawk strikeout ended the ballgame.
Southeast Missouri secures the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while Belmont will have to wait until Monday for the NCAA Selection Show to find out if they made the tournament field as an at-large bid. Current projections do not have the Bruins in the final field of 64.
This season, Belmont secured their first OVC regular season championship, matched the program record for wins (39), swept three major awards with Dave Jarvis winning OVC Coach of the Year, Guy Lipscomb earning OVC Player of the Year, and Andy Bean winning OVC Pitcher of the Year, got a league-high nine players selected to All-Conference teams, finished in the top five in the country in fielding percentage, and swept a Power Five team on the road for the first time in school history (Purdue).
Saturday's championship game was a thrilling pitcher's duel, with Belmont's Jalen Borders going toe-to-toe with Southeast Missouri's OVC Tournament MVP Jason Rackers.
Borders delivered his best outing of the season when it mattered most, holding the Redhawks scoreless over the first six innings before exiting after the seventh frame with four strikeouts and just one run allowed in a 1-1 game.
Belmont cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI infield single from Jackson Campbell that scored Mason Landers and gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the seventh inning, Southeast Missouri got a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt to move a runner in scoring position before a single to center field tied the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Belmont took the lead when, with two outs, Landers put the ball in play and reached on a fielding error by the Redhawk first baseman, allowing Brodey Heaton to motor home from second base for the go-ahead run.
The Bruins led 2-1 going to the ninth inning, three outs away from securing their first-ever OVC Tournament Championship, but Southeast Missouri catcher Andrew Keck homered off Kyle Brennan on the second pitch of the inning to make it 2-2.
After Brennan struck out two in a row and got a third Redhawk batter to line, the game headed to the bottom of the ninth, where the Bruins were retired in order.
Southeast Missouri got a two-run homer and a solo homer in the top of the tenth inning to take a 5-2 lead, proving to be just too large of a deficit for Belmont to overcome, as they scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the tenth but stranded the tying run at first base.
Lipscomb finished 3-for-4 with a run and a walk, and Heaton ended his game 3-for-5 with two runs, a double, and an RBI. Belmont out-hit Southeast Missouri 8-7 and did not commit an error, while the Redhawks had two, but the Bruins left eight men on base in the loss.
Southeast Missouri secures the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while Belmont will have to wait until Monday night for the NCAA Selection Show to find out if they made the tournament field as an at-large bid. The selection show airs Monday at 12pm ET on ESPN2. Current projections do not have the Bruins in the final field of 64.
