Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven baseball team suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of 10th ranked Faulkner University in game one of a three game Southern States Athletic Conference series Friday night at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers, who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, were held to seven hits by Eagles ace RL Eisenbach who pitched his sixth complete game of the season.

Faulkner (29-7, 5-2 SSAC) took the lead in the top of the second inning as Jonathan Gober and Daniel Cayton led off the frame with back to back singles. Alan McHenry then uncorked a wild pitch sending Gober to third and Cayton to second. Matt Parker then produced an RBI groundout to second base to make it a 1-0 game. McHenry was able to limit the damage to one run as he struck out Matt Darr and induced a fly ball to right from Brennan Olive to get out of the inning.

Belhaven (26-11, 5-5 SSAC) scored their only two runs in the fourth inning giving the Blazers a 2-1 lead at the time. Jimmy Gilford and Lake Eiland came up with back to back one out singles putting runners at first and third. Paul Moreno tied the game by dropping an RBI double down the left line and Derek Tortorich plated Gilford on a fielder's choice. Belhaven missed out on adding more runs in the inning when Moreno was caught stealing for the second out and Jordan Brewer flew out to right field to end the frame keeping the score 2-1.

From the point on, the Blazers had limited opportunities against Eisenbach who put zeros on the board the rest of the night. Faulkner plated a run in the fifth with two outs on an RBI single by Justin Jones to tie the contest at 2-2 and then scored the winning run in the sixth on a two out triple by Parker. Two of the Eagles three runs in the game scored after McHenry had recorded two outs in an inning.

Belhaven was led at the plate by Eiland who went 2 for 3 with a run scored. Moreno was 2 for 4 with an RBI while Brewer and Dillard came up with one hit each. McHenry took the loss on the mound for the Blazers as he went 6.2 innings surrendering three runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out six as his record drops to 6-1 this season. Sean Kelley worked 2.1 innings in relief without allowing any runs while giving up just two hits.

Cayton was 3 for 4 at the dish for Faulkner with a run scored while Parker went 1 for 4 with two runs batted in. Jones had two hits and an RBI and Gober collected two hits and scored a run. Faulkner also had three stolen bases as Jones, Gober, and Antonio Kendrick each swiped a bag in Friday night's game. With the win on the mound, Eisenbach improves to 8-1 in 2011 as he walked one and struck out eight en route to the victory.

Belhaven will take the field again on Saturday afternoon at Smith-Wills Stadium for a doubleheader against the Eagles to conclude the three game series. Fans can follow all the action through live audio and stats by clicking here. The first pitch for game one of the doubleheader is slated for 1:00 PM.