Box Score
Hattiesburg, MS-The Belhaven baseball team traveled to William Carey University on Friday night for the opening game of their final Gulf Coast Athletic Conference series of the season and came away with an 11-0 victory over the Crusaders. The Blazers led 3-0 after six innings and then exploded for an eight run seventh inning to put the game away. Belhaven is now 35-17 overall and 24-9 in the GCAC while 16^th ranked William Carey falls to 31-17 overall and 27-6 in league play.

 

Belhaven plated their first run in the second inning using a leadoff double by Brent Hudson to left field followed by a base hit by Charlie Edwards through the right side of the infield to take a 1-0 lead. The Blazers wouldn't score again until the sixth when Kyle Feazell reached base on a wild throw by third baseman Jacob Casey and Brian McCormick hit a line shot to left field which cleared the wall for his eighth home run of the season giving the Blazers a 3-0 advantage.

 

Belhaven blew the game open in the seventh with eight runs on six hits. With one out in the inning, Craig Westcott ripped a triple off the base of the left field to get the hit parade started for the Blazers. William Carey then intentionally walked Timmy Foster to set up a potential inning ending double play with runners on the corners. However, pinch runner Chad Howard got a good jump off of first base a stole second putting two men in scoring position.

 

That forced the Crusaders to bring the infielders in and Hudson made them pay with a base hit up the middle that scored pinch runner Justin Hill from third and Howard from second. Edwards came to the plate and lined out to third for the second out, but the third baseman Casey threw wildly to first trying to double off Hudson allowing Hudson to get all the way to third base.

 

Craig Dean was then called upon to pinch hit for Feazell and came through with a home run deep over the left center field fence. For Hudson, it was his fifth long ball of the season giving Belhaven a 7-0 lead. Jim Roseberry came in to pitch in relief of starter Derek Thompson and proceed to load the bases with a double to McCormick, a walk to pinch hitter Austin Fagan, and another walk to Chanse Cooper.

 

The bases didn't stay loaded for long thanks to a bases clearing double to right center by Lake Eiland off Matt McCulloch to make it 10-0 Belhaven. Westcott came up again and capped the inning off with a single to center chasing home Eiland for the inning's eighth run. McCulloch got Chad Howard to pop out to first base, but the damage had been done with the Blazers holding a 11-0 lead.

 

Brandt Hinton, who go the start and pitched all seven innings for the Blazers, came out in the bottom of the seventh and set the side down in order to end the game after seven innings as the 10 run rule went  into effect. Hinton only gave up two hits on the night while striking out seven Crusaders as he improves to 6-5 on the season. Thompson takes the loss and drops to 10-3 allowing seven runs on 10 hits in 6.2 innings of work.

Belhaven's offense was led by Eland who had two hits and 3 RBI's. Hudson, Dean, and McCormick had 2 RBI's each followed by Westcott and Edwards who each had one run batted in. Westcott and McCormick both collected three hits to pace the Blazers in that category. Jason Terrell and Jordan Prout had the only two hits of the game for William Carey.