Box Score
Columbus, GA-Tyler Wrinkle returned to the Belhaven lineup Monday night and in the fifth inning had the hit of the game when he launched a grand slam over the wall in left to cap a six run inning that propelled the Blazers to a 7-1 victory over William Carey University in game three of the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament. The Blazers, ranked 22nd in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, clinched an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening round with the win. For Wrinkle, it was his first start since sustaining a knee injury against Tougaloo on April 13th.

The game proved to be a pitcher's dual through the first four innings as Belhaven starter Brandon McHenry and William Carey starter Cory Williams kept the offenses at bay. In the fifth, the Blazers were finally able to break through on the scoreboard. Williams, who had cruised through the first four frames, hit catcher Derek Tortorich with the first pitch of the inning. Matt Discon followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield and then Paul Moreno drove a single to right plating courtesy runner Tom Wertz to make it a 1-0 game.

Ryan Saunders singled up the middle to chase home Discon and then Williams hit Jordan Brewer to load the bases setting the table for Wrinkle. On a 2-2 pitch, Wrinkle jumped on a Williams's slider and drove it out of the park extending Belhaven's advantage to 6-0. Wrinkle's blast swung the momentum and the Blazers never looked back en route to the win. Belhaven (42-15) added another run in the seventh when Wrinkle scored on a wild pitch and William Carey (26-24-3) avoided the shutout in the eighth when Javier Ortiz roped an RBI triple to center field.

Belhaven had six hits as a team and Saunders was the only player with multiple hits going 2 for 4 with a run scored and a run batted in. Wrinkle was 1 for 5 with four runs batted in on his fifth homer of the year. Moreno went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored followed by Discon and Gilford who each had one hit apiece.

Brandon McHenry turned in another solid outing on the hill leading to his sixth win of the season against just one defeat. McHenry went seven innings and did not allow a run while surrendering five hits. McHenry walked just one batter and struck out six. Kiel Higginbotham pitched the eighth and gave a run on one hit and Sean Kelly wrapped up the game by tossing a scoreless ninth.

Ortiz had a triple and an RBI for William Carey followed by Quin Stokes, Ronnie Camacho, Jared Rogers, Will White, and Michael Lindsey who each had singles. Williams went five plus innings and was tagged with six runs on six hits. Sean Carter allowed an unearned run in 1.1 innings on the mound.

Belhaven will be back in action against Brewton-Parker College Tuesday at 12:00 PM in game four of the SSAC Tournament. The Blazers topped the Barons 9-8 in the opening game of the tournament. A win by Belhaven puts them in the first championship game at 6:00 PM while a loss places them in the championship game on Wednesday at 12:00 PM. Fans can follow all the play-by-play action of both games through live audio courtesy of Stretch Internet by clicking here.