Baseball Drops Series Finale to Murray State on Sunday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University baseball team dropped their home series to Murray State on Sunday afternoon with a 10-1 defeat at the hands of the Racers at E.S. Rose Park. 

Belmont (21-24, 6-12 MVC) matched Murray State (24-21, 10-8 MVC) in hits with nine, but finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight men in the series finale. 

Murray State drew eight walks in the game, with five of those coming all the way around for runs. 

Sam Slaughter finished 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, Brodey Heaton went 2-for-4, and Max Blessinger ended his day 2-for-4 with a run scored. 

Joe Ruzicka (L, 0-3) pitched well in his first-ever weekend start, tossing six quality innings with three earned runs allowed. The freshman struck out seven, walked three, and allowed just three hits in the game. 

Murray State held a slim 3-1 lead going into the seventh inning, but the Racers tagged the Bruin bullpen for six runs over the seventh and eighth innings, taking advantage of a pair of Belmont fielding miscues to push the lead to eight going into the ninth inning. 

Belmont scored their only run in the fifth inning, as Blessinger singled and stole second before coming home on a Slaughter base hit. 

With a hit in the first inning, Mason Landers extended his on-base streak to 20 games. 

Up Next 

Belmont will be off until traveling to Chicago next weekend for a three-game series at UIC. 

The three-game set will begin Friday evening and run through Sunday afternoon.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN platforms, and live audio play-by-play will be broadcast on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio. 

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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