NASHVILLE, TENN. -- Belmont dropped the series opener to Southern Illinois Salukis, 8-3, Friday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park after the Salukis used a decisive middle-inning surge to pull away from the Bruins.
Belmont struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning after a tightly contested pitchers' duel through the opening three frames. Brady Holbrook ignited the rally with a leadoff double before Cavan McMeans moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt. Mike Sprockett then dropped down a perfectly placed bunt single to score Holbrook and give the Bruins a 1-0 advantage.
The Bruins appeared to have momentum after starter Shane Duke worked around early defensive miscues and stranded multiple runners through four scoreless innings. Duke recorded a career high six strikeouts over five innings while limiting Southern Illinois to just three hits entering the fifth.
The turning point of the game came in the top of the fifth inning when Southern Illinois quickly flipped the momentum with a three-run outburst. Jaden Flores tied the game immediately with a leadoff solo home run before the Salukis continued to apply pressure with consecutive baserunners. Julio Guerrero delivered the biggest blow of the inning with an RBI double to put Southern Illinois in front, and Cecil Lofton added another run-scoring play moments later to extend the lead to 3-1. After Belmont had controlled the pace early, the sudden offensive eruption shifted momentum entirely toward the visitors.
Southern Illinois continued to capitalize in the sixth inning after a Belmont defensive error allowed another run to score, pushing the lead to 4-1. Belmont struggled to generate offense against Southern Illinois starter Andrew Evans, who settled in after the fourth inning and retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced.
The Salukis delivered the knockout punch in the eighth inning. After an RBI single from Mason Schwalbach made it 5-1, Guerrero crushed a three-run homer to left field to break the game open and extend the Southern Illinois advantage to 8-1.
Belmont answered in the bottom half of the inning when Holbrook launched a two-run home run, scoring Charlie Davis and cutting the deficit to five. Holbrook finished with a strong offensive performance, going 2-for-4 with a double, home run, and two RBIs while accounting for all three Belmont runs scored.
Sprockett added two hits and an RBI for the Bruins, while Jake Maddox and Michael Lareau each contributed hits as Belmont totaled seven hits on the afternoon.
Despite the loss, Duke turned in another competitive outing on the mound, allowing three earned runs across five innings with six strikeouts. Sam Heyman worked the final four innings in relief.
Guerrero led Southern Illinois offensively with two hits, including a home run and double, while driving in four runs. Flores also added a home run and scored twice as the Salukis collected 10 hits overall.
With the loss, Belmont moved to 19-30 overall and 9-10 in MVC play, while Southern Illinois improved to 19-28 overall and 10-9 in conference action.
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