Baseball Tops North Alabama in Extra-Innings Road Win, 6-5

FLORENCE, Ala. – The Belmont University baseball team staged a late comeback and held on in extra innings for a 6-5 road win over North Alabama on Tuesday night at Mike D. Lane Field in Florence, Alabama.
 
Belmont (20-18, 5-7 MVC) scored five runs in the eighth and one more in the tenth to record their fourth straight midweek win.
 
Ethan Harden scored the game-winning run in the final frame, getting placed on second base as a ghost runner, then advancing to third on a sacrifice from Jack Rando, before coming home on a wild pitch.
 
In the bottom of the tenth inning, Jett Thielke (W, 5-1) stranded the tying run in scoring position with a pair of strikeouts sandwiching a groundout to seal the Bruin win.
 
Joe Ruzicka turned in a solid start on the mound, pitching into the sixth inning while allowing just four hits and two runs with five strikeouts.
 
Jack Rando finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk and a run scored.
 
Held scoreless through the first seven innings, Belmont erupted for five runs in the eighth inning to take command of the game.
 
Trailing 2-0, Jeff Clarke and Ethan Harden singled in back-to-back at-bats to lead off the eighth, then executed a double steal to score the first Bruin run.
 
Jack Rando and Mason Landers drew walks to load the bases, and a sacrifice fly from Blake Barton scored the tying run while a Lion error led to the go-ahead run coming in.
 
Leading 3-2 with a runner on and two outs in the inning, Brodey Heaton continued his torrid stretch with a no-doubt two-run homer to left field, pushing the Belmont lead to 5-2.
 
North Alabama got back two runs in the bottom of the eighth, and led off the ninth with a game-tying home run to force extras.
 
After Harden scored on the wild pitch in the tenth, Belmont sent Thielke back out for his third inning of work, and the junior right-hander delivered with a scoreless frame to pick up his team-high fifth victory of the year.
 
Belmont pitchers stranded 11 North Alabama runners, helping keep the visitors in the game, until the fireworks in the big eighth inning.
 
Up Next
 
Belmont heads to Springfield, Missouri, this weekend for a three-game series with Missouri State beginning Thursday at Hammons Field.
 
First pitch for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday's games will all be at 11 a.m.
 
While there will not be video streaming for the series, live audio play-by-play will be broadcast on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio, and live stats will be carried 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.