Box Score Game One    Box Score Game Two
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven baseball team concluded their three game Gulf Coast Athletic Conference series Saturday afternoon dropping both games of a double header to LSU-Shreveport at Smith Wills Stadium 9-0 in game one and 19-18 in game two. The Blazers are now 6-4 overall and 5-4 in the GCAC. The Pilots go to 9-1 overall and remain unbeaten in the conference with a perfect 6-0 record.

 

The Blazers didn't have an answer for Pilot starting pitcher John James in the opening game of the double header Saturday afternoon. James went all seven innings allowing just one hit in route to his third victory of the season. Charlie Edwards delivered the only Blazer hit in the fifth inning when he sent a James fastball into the left center field gap for a double. Edwards ended up being stranded at third base and the only scoring threat by Belhaven went by the boards.

 

LSU-Shreveport got six of their runs in the third inning and set the tone for the rest of the game. Blazer starting pitcher Kyle Hunt got Quinton Shamsabady to fly out to begin the inning, but then Kyle Lawrence reached first when Shawn Diehl had a fly ball go in and out of his glove in what would prove to be a costly error. With runners on second and third, Hunt struck out Andrew Blubaugh and it looked like he might be able to work out of the jam. The Pilots then reeled off four straight hits and went up 6-0 on Belhaven.

 

LSU-Shreveport tacked on a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to make the final score 9-0. Hunt (2-1) was saddled with the loss going three innings allowing six runs on five hits. However, none of those runs were earned due to the error by Diehl. One bright spot for the Blazers was Paul Faulkenberry who tossed three solid innings in relief giving up just one run on three hits.

 

Belhaven's offensive attack got going in the second game of the day plating a total of 18 runs on 15 hits. The Blazers scored at least one run in each of the first six innings of the game. Belhaven got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first inning plating two runs to grab an early 2-0 lead. Chanse Cooper and Timmy Foster came around to score on a double by Craig Westcott to put the Blazers on the board.

 

LSU-Shreveport came right back tallying six runs in the top of the second to jump in front 6-2. David Bradley hit a solo home run to get the scoring started and Andrew Brouillette capped off the scoring by blasting a two run homer over the left field fence.

 

Belhaven also put a six spot on the board in the second inning with four hits of their own to take an 8-6 advantage. Lake Eiland and Westcott each had two run singles in the inning, which provided the majority of the scoring. Pilot starting pitcher Turner Brasher was lifted after only 1.1 innings after having given up eight runs.

After having set the Pilots down in order in the top of the third, Belhaven tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the inning. Courtesy runner Mark Gray scored from third base on a fielder's choice by Chanse Cooper and then Lake Eiland came through with the big hit in the inning, crushing his first home run of the season over the left field fence to make it 11-6.

 

The Pilots refused to go away by countering with four runs on three hits in the top of the fourth. The key hit in the inning came was a three run double by Jeffrey Garidel the put LSU-Shreveport right back into the game. The Blazers got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on Brent Hudson's third home run of the season.

 

The Blazers plated four more runs in the fifth inning when Cooper came into score on a balk to begin the scoring. Craig Dean doubled in Westcott and Edwards cranked his second big fly of the year sending two more Blazer runs across the plate extending the lead to 16-10. The Pilots got three runs in the top of the sixth and Belhaven responded with two more in the bottom of the inning and at that point the Blazers had a five run 18-13 lead.

 

Unfortunately, Belhaven would be kept off the scoreboard the rest of the way. LSU-Shreveport struck for four runs in the eighth and then completed the comeback with two more in the ninth. The winning run came home on a catchers interference call with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth. The Blazers loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with one out, but JV Laffitte struck out Fagan and Cooper to end the game.

 

Westcott had a big game offensively driving in five runs while Eiland and Edwards each had four RBI's for the Blazers. Closer Kyle Medley suffered his first loss of the season giving up the final two runs of the game.