Baseball Hits Three Homers Including Grand Slam to Knock Off Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Behind three home runs, including a grand slam, the Belmont University baseball team picked up a big road win over Evansville, 8-1, on Saturday afternoon at German American Bank Field in Evansville, Indiana. 

Jeff Clarke's grand slam in the sixth inning helped put the game on ice, coming after a two-run homer from Brodey Heaton in the third inning and a solo blast from Blake Barton in the fifth inning. 

Andy Bean (W, 3-3) turned in another gem of an outing on the mound, tossing six strong innings with only one run allowed on a solo homer in the third inning. 

The reigning MVC Pitcher of the Week held one of the top offenses in the conference to five hits and recorded seven strikeouts to three walks. 

Jett Thielke (SV, 2) picked his second save of the season with three dominant innings in relief to close out the game, allowing just two hits to the Purple Aces and striking out three. 

Belmont (15-12, 3-1 MVC) has now won 15 of 18 meetings all-time with Evansville, and with Saturday's victory handed the Purple Aces their first conference loss of the season. 

The series-opening win also marked Belmont's best RPI victory of the season, with Evansville entering the weekend ranked No. 37 in RPI to make it a Quad 1 win for the Bruins. 

After a pair of scoreless innings, Heaton, a native of Newburgh, Indiana, just a few miles from German American Bank Field, hammered his second home run of the season to right-center field, scoring Mason Landers and making it 2-0 in favor of Belmont. 

Evansville returned the long ball favor with a solo home run in the bottom of the third, bringing the score to 2-1. 

Barton's blast came in the fifth frame with nobody on base, making it 3-1. 

Belmont put the contest away for good in the sixth inning, as Drew Lowry was hit by a pitch and Jack Rando singled to put men at first and third. 

After Rando stole second base, Sam Kirkpatrick worked a walk to load the bases with one out. 

Clarke, a junior from Fort Irving, Texas, climbed in and sent a no-doubter deep to right center field, Belmont's first grand slam since Jack Capobianco hit one at UT Martin on May 7, 2022. 

The Bruins scratched across another run in the eighth thanks to the baserunning of Rando, who got to first base on a dropped third strike and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. The junior second baseman then stole third base and came home on another wild pitch, bringing the final margin to 8-1. 

Up Next 

Belmont will finish out the series against Evansville on Sunday, as they return to German American Bank Field for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. 

Both games will be streamed on ESPN+, 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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