Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven baseball team slipped by Tougaloo College Wednesday night taking home a 6-3 victory at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers, ranked 24th in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, only had six hits but four of them went for extra bases including a clutch two run homer by Jordan Brewer in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Belhaven (34-13) climbed in front with two runs in the first inning off Tougaloo starting pitcher Michael Langston. Tyler Wrinkle led off with a double to left field followed by an RBI double from Jimmy Gilford down the left field line that made it a 1-0 game. Lake Eiland moved Gilford to third on a ground out and then Gilford crossed the plate when Anthony Doss drove him in on a ground ball to second base. The Blazers extended their lead to 3-0 in the second when Gilford drew a bases loaded walk scoring Alex Riser. A costly error by shortstop Dustin Porter gave Belhaven an extra out which led to the run.

Tougaloo (2-34) cracked the scoreboard in the fourth inning when William Walker doubled with one out, stole third base, and scampered home on a ground ball to first by Dustin Triplett to make it 3-1. Belhaven answered two innings later in the sixth on the Brewer home run which was his fourth of the year. Riser had doubled to lead off the inning and courtesy runner Justin Hill scored on the play which at the time appeared to have put Belhaven in command at 5-1.

However, the Bulldogs did not back down and fought back to get two runs in the seventh to close the gap to 5-3. Michael Kinslow brought in the first run on a base hit to right field and then Jared Downs dropped an RBI single down the left field line. The base hit by Downs drove Belhaven starting pitched Graham Upshaw from the game as Sean Kelly was summoned from the bullpen.

Kelly recorded the first out when batter Deron Simpson was called out on interference when he was hit by Riser's throw going to first base. Kelly then surrendered a base hit to Myron Gilmore putting runners on first and second with two away. The play of the game ensued when Porter singled to right field and on the attempt to score from second; Downs was cut down at the plate on a very close play by right fielder Drew Dillard to end the inning and keep it a 5-3 game.

Belhaven came back with a run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Riser which chased home Lake Eiland who was hit by a pitch to open the inning. The Blazer bullpen took over and shutdown the Tougaloo offense over the final two innings to preserve the win.

Belhaven was led by Brewer at the plate going one for three on the night with two runs batted in on his fourth homer of the year. Gilford also had a double and 2 RBI's while Riser collected two hits including a double, a run scored and a run batted in. Wrinkle had a pair of hits with one of them being his team leading 17th double of the season. Doss had the other run batted in with an RBI ground out in the first inning.

Upshaw made his first start on the mound this season for the Blazers and tossed 6.1 innings allowing three runs on five hits. Upshaw earned the win to go to 1-0 after striking out six while not walking a batter. Josh Clarke pitched a scoreless ninth to notch his eighth save of 2011.

Tougaloo was led at the dish by Triplett, Kinslow and Downs who all had one hit and one run batted in each. Langston (1-5) suffered the loss for the Bulldogs pitching 5.1 innings allowing five runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Gilmore worked 2.2 innings in relief and was charged with a run on two hits.

Belhaven will be back in action this weekend when they head to Franklin Springs, GA for a three game SSAC cross divisional series with Emmanuel College beginning with game one and two on Friday at 2:00 PM and concluding with a single game on Saturday starting at Noon. Fans can follow all the live play-by-play action of all three games through live audio courtesy of Stretch Internet by clicking here.