Baseball Takes Both Ends of Saturday Doubleheader Against Lindenwood

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Strong starting pitching from Jordan Zuger and Dominic Baratta led Belmont to a pair of seven-inning wins in a Saturday doubleheader against Lindenwood at E.S. Rose Park, with the Bruins taking the first game, 5-1, and the second game, 9-7. 

With the two wins, Belmont (10-11) clinched a series victory over Lindenwood (3-17) ahead of Sunday's finale, which has been pushed back one hour to 2 p.m. at E.S. Rose Park. 

Game 1 Recap 

Belmont opened the day with a convincing 5-1 victory over Lindenwood in the first game of the doubleheader. 

Jordan Zuger (W, 2-3) threw a complete game in the seven-inning contest, allowing just one run while striking out a career-high seven batters. 

The sophomore scattered just four hits, three of them singles, and did not issue a single walk while finishing the game on a spectacular 79 pitches. 

Offensively, Belmont jumped on the Lions early, plating four runs in the first inning. 

After Max Jones doubled on the first pitch in the first inning, Jeff Clarke drew a walk. 

Mason Landers then sent a deep fly ball to center field that was caught, with Jones tagging up and scoring from second base on the sacrifice fly. 

Blake Barton reached on an error that put men on the corners, allowing Brodey Heaton to dig in and rip a single to left field, scoring Clarke and making it 2-0 in favor of the Bruins. 

A wild pitch put Barton and Heaton into scoring position, and Drew Lowry delivered a single through the left side that drove in Barton. 

An Ethan Harden single tacked on two more runs, making it a 4-0 Belmont lead going into the second inning. 

Belmont added another run on a Heaton double in the fifth inning that scored Barton. 

Heaton finished the game 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs, and a walk. 

Game 2 Recap 

Belmont withstood a late Lindenwood rally in the seventh inning to escape the second game of the doubleheader with a 9-7 win. 

Belmont led, 9-2, going into the final frame, but the Lions capitalized on two Bruin fielding errors in the frame to score five times and put the tying runs in scoring position. 

However, Jett Thielke struck out two straight batters to end the game and hand Belmont the win. 

Dominic Baratta (W, 2-1) followed up Zuger's stellar start with one of his own, tossing five solid innings while allowing two runs on just three hits. 

After putting up four runs in the first inning of the first game of the doubleheader, Belmont scored seven runs in the first inning of the second game, sending 11 Bruins to the plate. 

Max Jones and Jeff Clarke both walked to lead off the frame, leading to a Blake Barton two-RBI single up the middle. 

Brodey Heaton stayed hot, blasting a triple to left center field that scored Barton, making it 3-0 in favor of the Bruins. 

After Drew Lowry was hit by a pitch, the junior stole second, allowing Ethan Harden's single up the middle to score two and make it 5-0 Belmont. 

After Lindenwood changed pitchers, Sam Slaughter rocketed his second home run of the season to right field, a two-run shot that put the cherry on top at 7-0 going into the second inning. 

The Lions tacked on two runs in the fifth inning, but Belmont added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth when Barton picked up another RBI single before the Bruins put a double steal into motion that scored another run. 

Belmont led, 9-2, entering the seventh and final inning, but the Lions scored five runs on four hits and took advantage of two Bruin fielding errors, making it 9-7 with one out and two runners on. 

Thielke's back-to-back strikeouts ended the game and handed Belmont their third straight victory. 

Barton finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. 

Up Next 

Belmont will return to E.S. Rose Park on Sunday for the series finale against Lindenwood. 

First pitch has been moved back one hour to 2 p.m. 

Live radio play-by-play will be broadcast on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio, and live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com. 

Follow Belmont baseball on social media - @BelmontBaseball on Twitter and @belmontbaseball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.                        

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