Box Score
Columbus, GA-The Belhaven baseball team rallied from a 5-1 deficit to take home a 9-8 victory against 16th ranked Brewton-Parker College Friday night in the opening round of the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament. The Blazers, ranked 22nd in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, pulled in front on a clutch two out three run homer by Anthony Doss in the fourth to take a 6-5 lead that they never relinquished.

Belhaven (40-15) found themselves down 3-0 before their first at bat as Robert Harris connected on a three run home run of his own to give Brewton-Parker (32-15) the early edge. The Barons added another run in the top of the second after the Blazers failed to score in the first. Derrick Fox picked up the RBI on a single that plated Errick Fox on the play extending the lead to 4-0.

The Blazers broke through with a run in the second when Ryan Saunders scored on a wild pitch by Daniel Jones to cut the deficit to 4-1. Brewton-Parker answered with another score in the third on an RBI fielder's choice from Fernando Frias pushing the lead back to four runs. Belhaven then got the offense cranked up a little more in the third when Saunders plugged the right center field gap for a two run triple to make it 5-3.

Then in the fourth, Doss hammered the three run shot over the 415 sign in center field. Jones retired the first two hitters, but then lost command and issued back to back walks to Jimmy Gilford and Lake Eiland. Those walks would prove to be costly as they extended the inning for Doss. Belhaven then tacked on what proved to be crucial insurance runs in the sixth inning. Eiland came up with a two out RBI single to right field and Derek Tortorich pounded a two run single to center.

Trailing 9-5 going to the top of the eighth, the Barons mounted a comeback attempt scoring three times to trim Belhaven's lead to one. Sean Kelly came in to relieve starting pitcher Allen Johnson and struggled allowing all three batters he faced to reach safely. Josh Clarke was then summoned from the bullpen to record all three outs, but not before all three runners he inherited scored. Pinch runner DeMontez Jones scored on a wild pitch, Errick Fox roped an RBI single off of Clark's glove, and Kelvin Espinosa produced a run scoring single to right.

Belhaven loaded the bases themselves in the bottom of the eighth, but could not add to the lead. Matt Discon appeared to have possibly dropped the ball into center field for a base hit with the base full, but the umpire ruled that Randell Shepherd had made a clean diving catch to end the inning. In the top of the ninth, Clark walked Josh Palmer to put the leadoff man aboard. Jacob Evors then tried to bunt and third baseman Jordan made a diving catch and doubled off Palmer at first to clear the bases. Harris was the final out of the night when he was hit by his own batted ball heading down the first base line to end the game.

Belhaven was led at the plate by Doss who went 3 for 4 with a home run (3), double (7) and three runs batted in. Tortorich was 2 for 5 with two RBI's followed by Eiland who went 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Gilford also had a multi hit game with a 2 for 4 evening. Saunders collected his third triple of the season in two plate appearances and had two runs batted in.

Allen Johnson battled his way to the win improving his record to 5-4 this season. Johnson went the first seven innings and allowed five runs on eight hits while striking out three. Clarke picked up his 10th save logging the final two innings on the hill to preserve the win. Kelly gave up two hits with a walk and one strikeout.

Harris led the Barons at the plate going 2 for 4 with a home run and three runs batted in. Errick Fox had two hits and an RBI followed by Shepherd who had two hits and a run scored. Daniel Jones (6-4) took the loss with a four inning outing that yielded six runs on six hits. Drew Parker was touched for three runs in two innings and Ben Gillespie had two scoreless innings on the hill.

Belhaven will take the field again on Saturday night at 6:00 PM in the second round of the tournament against Shorter University. Shorter topped Auburn-Montgomery 8-4 in their opening round game Friday night. Fans can follow all the play-by-action through live audio courtesy of Stretch Internet by clicking here.