Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven baseball team took home a win in game one of a three game Southern States Athletic Conference West Division series Friday night at Spring Hill College by the final of 6-3. The Blazers, ranked 23rd in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, pulled out to a 6-0 lead and then held off the Badgers in the late innings to pull out the win.

Belhaven (33-11, 8-5 SSAC) took advantage of an error to plate the first run of the game in the second inning. Catcher Derek Tortorich reached base on second baseman Brian Sims misplayed ground ball. Courtesy runner Justin Hill moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Paul Moreno and then Matt Discon drove him in on a base hit to right field.

The game stayed at 1-0 in Belhaven's favor until the sixth when the Blazers added four more runs. With one out, another error by the Badgers opened the door for the offense. With one out, Lake Eiland reached on a fielding error by Brian Traina and would later score on a base hit by Tortorich. Ryan Saunders delivered a two out two run single and then Moreno scored from third base when pinch runner Josiah Richard got caught in a run down to end the inning. Then in the seventh inning, Jimmy Gilford singled home Drew Dillard on a shot to first base to make it 6-0.

Belhaven starting pitcher Allen Johnson held Spring Hill off the board through the first six innings and had faced the minimum without allowing a hit. The Badgers were able to break through with a run in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Brad Holstein to cut the deficit to 6-1. Spring Hill also recorded single runs in the eighth in ninth innings on a Joe Carter RBI double followed by a Fred Rossi RBI double in the ninth inning. However, Johnson fought through the adversity to notch his second complete game of the season. The Badgers had a chance to do more damage in the eight with runners on second and third with no one out, but Johnson induced three straight pop ups on the infield to limit the damage to just one run.

The complete game victory for Johnson bumps his overall record to 4-3 on the season. Johnson surrendered three runs on five hits while striking out four. Johnson hit one batter, but did not walk anyone in Friday's win. At the plate, Belhaven was led by Gilford who went 3 for 5 including a double with an RBI. Ryan Saunders had two hits and two runs batted in while Tortorich and Discon both had base hits and runs batted in. Tyler Wrinkle, Eiland, Doss, Moreno, and Dillard all had singles in the game.

Casey Adams suffered the loss for Spring Hill (12-27, 1-9) after pitching eight innings allowing six runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts. Five of the six runs were unearned due to two costly Spring Hill errors. Fred Rossi had a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Badgers. Brad Holstein and Joe Carter had a hit and one RBI apiece.

Belhaven will wrap up the three game series at Spring Hill on Saturday when the two teams square off in a doubleheader starting at 1:00 PM. Fans can follow all the play-by-play action through live audio courtesy of Stretch Internet by clicking here.