Baseball Secures Spot in MVC Championship With Road Shutout of Bradley

Box Score PEORIA, Ill. – The Belmont University baseball team clinched a spot in the MVC Championship with a 4-0 shutout win over Bradley on Thursday night at Dozer Park in Peoria, Illinois.
 
The victory, combined with an Illinois State loss earlier in the day, assures Belmont (24-30, 9-16 MVC) of a top-eight position in the final regular season standings.
 
Belmont has now won three of their last four conference games to claim a spot in next week's MVC Championship, which will be hosted by Indiana State at Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute, Ind., from May 23-27.
 
Dominant pitching from Dominic Baratta (W, 4-5) and Jett Thielke (SV, 3) carried the day, with a two-run home run from Brodey Heaton and a three-hit day from Max Blessinger sparking things on offense.

??? Hear from Max Blessinger and Jett Thielke after Thursday's shutout win over Bradley at Dozer Park ??#ItsBruinTime pic.twitter.com/hUsB2fvbbV
— Belmont Baseball (@BelmontBaseball) May 19, 2023
 

Baratta tossed five scoreless innings in his start on the mound, working around four walks with two strikeouts. The left-hander scattered just three hits, keeping Bradley at bay as Belmont built a lead.
 
Thielke was nails out of the Bruin bullpen, working four scoreless innings for his third save of the season. The junior right-hander allowed just three hits, all singles, while striking out five with no walks. At one point across the seventh and eighth innings, Thielke struck out four Braves in a row.
 
Behind the two pitchers, Belmont played error-free defense while turning two double plays.
 
Offensively, Blessinger recorded his fourth three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base.
 
Heaton hit his seventh home run and finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks.
 
Ethan Harden and Jeff Clarke each tallied two hits apiece.
 
Belmont did all their scoring across the second, third and fourth innings, building an early lead that Baratta and Thielke were able to protect.
 
In the second, Blessinger and Harden delivered back-to-back leadoff singles to put men at first and third base.
 
Jack Rando put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners, picking up an RBI as Blessinger scored from third base.
 
In the third, Brodey Heaton hit a towering moonshot to left field to extend Belmont's lead to 3-0, a two-run home run that moved him one home run shy of breaking into Belmont's NCAA-era career top ten list (24).
 
The Bruins wrapped up their scoring in the fourth inning, as Rando singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch to set the table for a Harden base hit up the middle, scoring the junior second baseman and pushing the Belmont lead to 4-0.
 
Up Next
 
Belmont will look for a series win over the Braves when they return to Dozer Park in Peoria on Friday night.
 
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Freshman right-hander Joe Ruzicka is projected to start on the mound for the Bruins.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with live audio play-by-play broadcast on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio, and live stats 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.