Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven baseball team took advantage of seven Bethel College walks and two hit batsmen in route to an 8-7 victory over the Wildcats Wednesday night at Smith Wills stadium. The Blazers are now 10-4 on the season and have won their last four games. Bethel College falls to an overall record of 4-6 in 2009.

                                   

Bethel plated their first run of the game in the top of the second inning on a base hit by Johnathan DeBerry scoring Courtney Hardaway to put the Wildcats up 1-0. Belhaven answered with a run in the bottom of the second by taking advantage of a pair of Bethel errors. Andrew Maddox committed a fielding error which enabled Brian McCormick to drive home Craig Dean on a sacrifice fly to make it a 1-1 game.

 

The Wildcats came back to get a run in the top of third to regain the lead when Maddox delivered a two out single up the middle scoring Heath Sharp from second base. Belhaven then took the lead for the first time in the game in the bottom of third with three runs to jump ahead 4-2. Chanse Cooper led the inning off with a walk and the Lake Eiland was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with nobody out.

 

Cooper and Eiland then stole third base and second base respectively followed by another walk to Timmy Foster. Following a strikeout of Westcott, Dean stepped to the plate and lined a triple into right center field to clear the bases and give the Blazers the lead.

 

Unfortunately, Belhaven's lead did not last for long as the Wildcats fired back with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth. Will Cripps double home the first run of the inning and then Johnathon Keck sliced a two run single into right field to make it 5-4 Bethel. The Blazers got a run back in the bottom of the inning when McCormick walked to get things started. Mark Gray, who pinch ran for McCormick, eventually came in to score on an Eiland sacrifice fly to deep left field.

 

Neither team scored in the fifth inning but Bethel once again jumped on top in their half of the sixth with a pair of runs off Golden Grasse. Sharp sent the first run in on a base hit plating Deberry followed by a Maddox RBI on a fielder's choice to give the Wildcats a 7-5 advantage.

 

Austin Fagan led off the bottom of the seventh with a base hit followed by McCormick being hit on a 0-2 pitch from Wildcat hurler Shane Tilley. Cooper then came to the plate with one out and sent a triple to right field bringing home a pair of runs to tie the contest. Two batters later, Foster double in the right center field gap sending home Cooper for the third run of the inning and thus vaulting the Blazers back into the lead at 8-7.

 

Brandt Hinton came in to pitch the seventh and eighth innings and shutout out Bethel after Riley Galloway was able to limit the damage in the top of the sixth inning earning him his second win of the season. Kyle Medley closed the door in the ninth for his fifth save in 2009. Kyle Hunt started the game for the Blazers pitching the first 3.1 innings allowing four runs on five. The Blazer offense was led by Craig Dean who went 2 for 4 at the plate with a triple and 3 RBI's. Chanse Cooper had a 2 for 4 night at the plate with 2 RBI's for the Blazers.

 

Belhaven returns to action this Friday at 4 PM against Mckendree University in the Belhaven College Invitational from Smith Wills Stadium. All the action of Blazer baseball can be heard via Stretch Internet through the Belhaven Athletics website.