Box Score Game 1    Box Score Game 2
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven baseball team completed a three game Gulf Coast Athletic Conference sweep of Spring Hill College on Saturday afternoon at Smith Wills Stadium by taking both games of a doubleheader from the Badgers. The Blazers were victorious in game one by a final of 8-4 and outslugged Spring Hill in the night cap 14-7. The wins propelled Belhaven into sole possession of first place in the GCAC with a league record of 9-2.

Game One
Belhaven (16-3, 9-2 GCAC) got out to a quick start in game one when Timmy Foster launched his first home run of the season over the left field wall in the bottom of the first to put the Blazers up 2-0. The round tripper brought in Foster Jimmy Gilford who had walked with one out in the frame. Spring Hill (12-8, 8-4 GCAC) quickly countered with two runs of their own in the top of the second to even up the score at 2-2. Ryan Cummings crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Ryan Kassab and Fred Rossi drove in the other run with a base hit to center that plated Andy McCall.

Belhaven rallied to post two more runs in the bottom of the second to go back on top 4-2. Jordan Brewer reached on a throwing error by Cummings and Derek Tortorich made the Badgers pay by blasting his second long ball of the season deep over the left field fence. The Blazers defense faltered a bit in the top of the fourth inning opening the door for Spring Hill to tie up the game once again.

With two outs, Bobby Voss drew a walk and an error by Shawn Diehl kept the inning alive allowing Rossi to reach base. Justin Harrison eventually drew a bases loaded walk and then Craig Dean bobbled a ground ball at third that sent in the second run of the frame. Fortunately, the Blazer bats were up to the task as the offense put Belhaven in front once again with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to make it a 6-4 lead. Diehl atoned for his error in the field by wrapping a two run double down the left field line scoring Dean and Brewer.

Belhaven went on to add a pair of insurance runs in the fifth inning on three more hits. Lake Eiland singled up the middle chasing home Gilford from third and then Brandon Benton shot a double down the line in left to plate Eiland for an 8-4 advantage. Golden Grasse, who had come in to pitch in the fifth, closed the door on the Badgers in sixth and seventh innings to preserve the win and pick up his first save of the season.

Kassab earned the victory pitching the first four innings in game one as he allowed four runs on three hits. Kassab walked three and struck out three and improves to 3-0 on the season. Grasse fired three innings and did not allow hit or a run while striking out three.

Foster, Diehl, and Tortorich each had 2 RBI's while Benton chipped in with one run batted in. Belhaven had four extra base hits including the home runs by Foster and Tortorich while Gilford and Benton both collected doubles in the game. The Blazers only had six hits in the game, but made the most of their opportunities by leaving just one man on base.

Joe Baumgartner suffered the loss for Spring Hill as he gave up six runs on three hits dropping his record to 0-2 on the season. Rossi and Harrison had the only two runs batted in for the Badgers and Spring Hill was held to just three total hits in the game.

Game Two
There was plenty of offense to go around in game two as Spring Hill and Belhaven combined to pound out 27 hits in the night cap. Each team also committed three errors opening the door for more scoring opportunities. Belhaven was the first to score when catcher Kyle Feazell connected on his first home run of season in the bottom of the second inning. The solo shot put the Blazers on top 1-0 through two innings of play.

The Badgers came back to take the lead in the top of the third inning when Voss scored on a throwing error by Diehl after Hall had picked up an infield single. Harrison had an RBI groundout to second base that plated Hall giving the Badgers a 2-1 lead. Spring Hill didn't enjoy the edge for long as Belhaven bounced back with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to go back ahead 4-2. Gilford delivered an RBI single to right field, Dillard came in on a wild pitch by Badger pitcher Nick Clapper, and Eiland capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field sending in Gilford.

Unfortunately, Spring Hill had an answer in the top of the fourth scoring three more times to regain the edge at 5-4. Belhaven hurt themselves on defense with two errors in the inning. The Badgers had doubles by McCall and Nelson to open the frame accounting for the first run. Dillard then dropped a fly ball off the bat of Lucas Dobson allowing Nelson to come home from second base. Later in the inning Rossi lifted a sac fly to right field to bring in Dobson for the go ahead run off Blazer starting pitcher Alan McHenry.

However, the tide turned in the bottom of the sixth inning when Belhaven scored seven times against the Badgers. Belhaven pounded out six hits and Spring Hill fell apart on defense by committing three errors. Eiland homered to left field to lead off the inning and a double by Feazell brought in the innings second run. The next three runs came in on errors and then Dillard and Gilford tallied RBI singles to cap the scoring in the sixth. At that point, Belhaven was in control and went on to post a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth. The Badgers got a couple of late scores in the eighth, but it wasn't enough to get them back into the game.

Paul Faulkenberry picked up his second win of the season thanks to a solid relief outing that saw him pitch four innings with only two runs allowed. McHenry got the start and made it through the first four innings giving up five runs on five hits. On offense, Gilford went 3 for 4 at the plate and drove in two runs. Diehl, Eiland, Foster, and Paul Moreno all had two hits apiece while Moreno, Dillard, Eiland, and Feazell picked up 2 RBI's each. As a team, Belhaven had 15 hits in the contest.

Clapper was saddled with the loss for Spring Hill as he pitched 5.1 innings and surrendered eight of the 14 runs on nine hits. Brad Holstein had three hits in three at bats while Voss and Hall each had two hits for the Badgers who totaled 12 hits in game two.

Belhaven will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Mississippi College at Smith-Wills Stadium in game three of the Maloney Series Trophy. The Blazers topped the Choctaws earlier in the year 4-3 at Smith Wills Stadium. The first pitch is slated for 6:00 PM and all the live play-by-play action can be heard via Stretch internet through the Belhaven Athletics website beginning with the pregame show at 5:45 PM.