Baseball Prepares for MVC Baseball Championship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - No. 7 Belmont (25-30, 12-15) travel to Evansville, Indiana for the 2024 MVC Baseball Championship. The Bruins face No. 6 Southern Illinois (31-25, 12-15 MVC) on Tuesday, May 21. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Fans can stream every MVC Championship game on ESPN+ or listen to Rich Tiner on iHeartRadio. All game information and news can be found at belmontbruins.com with in-game updates on X (@BelmontBaseball).
 
Tournament Seeding
No. 1 Indiana State (39-11, 22-5 MVC)
No. 2 Murray State (37-18, 17-10 MVC)
No. 3 Evansville (31-23, 17-10 MVC)
No. 4 Illinois State (28-25, 16-11 MVC)
No. 5 UIC (33-18, 16-11 MVC)
No. 6 Southern Illinois (31-25, 12-15 MVC)
No. 7 Belmont (25-30, 12-15 MVC)
No. 8 Missouri State (23-32, 11-16 MVC)
 
Belmont Series Recaps
vs. No. 1 Indiana State (May 3-5)
Season series: 0-3
All-time record: 0-9
Series Notes

• Brodey Heaton led the Bruins with six hits and four RBIs. Heaton drove in a pair of runs in Game Three and homered during Game Two.
• Five different players hit home runs in the series for the Bruins. Blake Barton hit his first of the season in Game Three.
• Joe Ruzicka struck out four and allowed one earned run in five innings of work during his start on Sunday's series finale.
• Max Blessinger had three RBIs over the weekend.

vs. No. 2 Murray State (Mar. 28-30)
Season series: 3-0
All-time record: 32-20
Last 5: 3-2
Last 10: 7-3

• One team has scored 10+ runs in seven of the last nine meetings.

Series Notes

• Belmont hit .407 as a team, scored 42 runs, totaled 51 hits and smashed six home runs in the series.
• Sam Slaughter led the Bruins in the series with a team-high .533 batting average (8-for-15). He finished the series with six RBIs.
• During Thursday's game, Brodey Heaton recorded his 226th career hit in his first at-bat to move into the top 10 all-time in career hits. He finished the game with four hits and four RBIs in the 15-4 victory. The first baseman went 7-for-14 with seven RBI during the series.
• Mason Landers led the team with eight RBIs and three home runs. Landers homered twice in Friday's 14-4 victory and once in Saturday's series finale.
• Blake Barton led the team with ten hits in four games. He set a new career-high Saturday with four hits and scored three times.
• Will Pryor went six innings and struck out five Racers in Game One.
• Dominic Baratta tossed a complete game in Belmont's 14-4 Game Two win. Baratta allowed four runs and struck out five batters.
• In the series finale, Cade Granzow struck out six batters in four shutout relief innings. 

vs. No. 3 Evansville (Apr. 5-7)
Season series: 1-2
All-time record: 19-6
Last 5: 3-2
Last 10: 8-2

• This year marked the first time the Purple Aces won a three-game series against the Bruins.
• Belmont won the last seven meetings before this season.

Series Notes

• Michael Lareau and Blake Barton led the Bruins with four hits each. Lareau set a season-high with three hits in the 12-0 win in Game Three.
• Jack Rando hit two home runs and drove in four runs.
• Joe Ruzicka threw a complete game shutout in Game Three. Ruzicka allowed three hits and struck out three batters.
• Cade Granzow tossed four scoreless innings in the series opener. He allowed two hits and struck out three hitters.

vs. No. 4 Illinois State (May 16-18)
Season series: 1-2
All-time record: 10-10
Last 5: 2-3
Last 10: 4-6
Series Notes

• After trailing 3-0 entering the fourth inning, Belmont rattled off 11 runs on 10 hits to pick up the win in the series opener.
• Pete Daniel led the Bruins with five hits during the series. It's the first time in a three-game conference series Daniel led the Bruins in hits.
• Brodey Heaton and Blake Barton hit home runs.
• Cade Granzow threw 4.1 scoreless relief innings in Game One to earn the win. He allowed two hits and struck out two batters.
• Joe Ruzicka had a short but effective start in Game Two. Ruzicka allowed one hit over three innings and struck out four.
• Jordan Zuger made his second start of the week in the regular season finale. Zuger tossed a season-high five innings and fanned a season-high five batters.

vs. No. 5 UIC (Mar. 22-24)
Season series: 1-2
All-time record: 1-6
Series Notes

• Sam Slaughter had a team-high six hits in the series against UIC. He went 3-for-4 with a run in Game Two.
• Mason Landers drove in five runs over the weekend and homered in Game One.
• Hank Liss recorded a three-inning save in Saturday's win over UIC. The freshman allowed two hits and struck out four batters, as he picked up his second save of the season.
• Brodey Heaton had four RBIs in the series.

vs. No. 6 Southern Illinois (Apr. 19-21)
Season series: 0-3
All-time record: 6-12
Last 5: 1-4
Last 10: 2-8
Series Notes

• Jack Rando led the Bruins with five hits in 14 at-bats.
• Brodey Heaton had three RBIs and drew a team-high six walks.
• Landon Godsey posted a .375 batting average.
• Cade Granzow made two relief appearances.
• Will Pryor struck out 10 batters in five innings in his start on Apr. 19. It was the most strikeouts for Pryor in a start since his 11 recorded on Mar. 1 vs. Little Rock.
• The Bruins were outhit 25-10 and posted a .230 team batting average.

vs. No. 8 Missouri State (May 10-12)
Season series: 2-1
All-time record: 3-5
Last 5: 2-3
Series Notes

• Michael Lareau went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.
• Jack Rando and Sam Slaughter led the Bruins with four hits each.
• Brodey Heaton hit a home run and drove in three runs.
• Jett Thielke tossed three scoreless innings in his start on Senior Day. He tied his season high with five strikeouts.
• Joe Ruzicka went seven innings in his start in Game Two and picked up his fourth win of the season. He allowed two runs, one earned run, on five hits with four strikeouts.
• Sam Slaughter hit a walk-off RBI single in the 10^th inning of Game One. Belmont won the game 11-10. 

What's Bruin

• Sam Slaughter leads the Bruins with a .332 batting average and 21 stolen bases. Slaughter leads the MVC in stolen bases and is 11^th in batting average.
• Slaughter carries a 23-game on-base streak into the MVC Championship dating back to Apr. 7 vs. Evansville.
• Jack Rando led the Bruins with a .343 batting average in MVC play.
• Mason Landers is two home runs away from tying the single-season home run record set by Nate Woods in 2010. Landers' 18 home runs leads the team and rank eighth in the MVC.
• Landers is tied with Kane Simmons and Emil Cimala for the 10^th most RBIs in a single season with 56 this season.
• Landers held two incredible streaks for the Bruins this season. Landers had a 20-game hit streak from Mar. 15 to Apr. 19. He also became the first Bruin to hit a home run in five consecutive games from Mar. 15 to Mar. 23.
• Brodey Heaton became Belmont's all-time RBIs leader on May 7. Heaton's three-run home run drove in his 214^th career RBI. His current career total sits at 220 RBIs. In his last 10 games, Heaton leads the team with four home runs and 13 RBIs.
• Heaton is second all-time in program history with 44 career home runs.
• Landon Godsey has caught 13 runners stealing which ranks second in the conference.
• Blake Barton has posted above a .300 batting average in four series against teams in the MVC Championship.
• Max Blessinger had four hits in the series against UIC.
• In the final home series of the season against Missouri State, Michael Lareau led the Bruins with a .600 batting average and three RBIs. He also stole two bases.
• Pete Daniel has a .333 batting average, two home runs and three RBIs in his last 10 games.
• Dominic Baratta is second on the team and 13^th in the MVC with 66.1 innings pitched. His 48 strikeouts are the third most on the team.
• Joe Ruzicka has held opponents to a .218 batting average in 14 starts this season. Ruzicka's 56 strikeouts are three shy of Will Pryor's total for the most on the team.
• Jordan Zuger is second in the MVC in appearances with a team-high 27 on the season. The junior made 24 appearances in his first two seasons as a Bruin. 
• Hank Liss leads the team with three saves. The freshman has struck out 33 batters in 39.2 innings this season.
• Bill Duby has allowed one earned run in his last four appearances. Duby has struck out six batters and allowed two hits in 4.2 innings during that stretch.
• Cade Granzow leads the Bruins with a 5-2 record. He is tied with Zuger with a team-high 11 relief appearances in conference games. Granzow leads the Bruins with a 3.55 ERA in MVC play.
• Head Coach Dave Jarvis has led the Bruins to 14 conference tournaments. 

2023 MVC Championship Recap
Belmont was the seventh seed and went 2-2 in their first MVC Baseball Championship since joining the conference in 2023. Belmont entered the season fresh off a 2022 OVC Regular Season title.

• May 23 vs. No. 6 UIC: L, 5-10
• May 24 vs. No. 8 Valparaiso: W, 10-9
• May 25 vs. No. 3 Southern Illinois: W, 6-5
• May 26 vs. No. 1 Indiana State: L, 0-10

Player Notes

• Brodey Heaton hit two home runs and four RBIs against UIC. He finished the tournament with a .467 batting average, three home runs and eight RBIs.
• Max Blessinger had four hits, two home runs and three RBIs.
• Jack Rando and Sam Kirkpatrick both had three hits.
• Joe Ruzicka threw 4.1 innings against Indiana State. He allowed four runs on five hits and struck out three batters. 

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