Box Score
Gulf Shores, AL-The Belhaven softball team edged Lindsey Wilson College 3-1 Saturday afternoon in game three of pool play at the NAIA National Championships in Gulf Shores, AL. The Blazers, one of eight number one seeds in this year's tournament, are moving on to the round of eight bracket tournament which begins on Monday thanks to the win.

Belhaven (47-10) scored single runs in the first, third, and seventh innings and once again pitcher Sarah Burns made the lead stand up. Annalee Carr put the Blazers on the board with an RBI single in the first which plated Rian O'Bannon who had walked with out and stole second base to move into scoring position. Belhaven made it a 2-0 game in the third when Christina Jaques dropped a one out double to left center and scampered home on O'Bannon's base hit to center field.

Lindsey Wilson College (47-8) pulled to within one run in the sixth when Ally Goniea drilled a home run over the fence in center field to make it a 2-1 contest. However, Rachel Wright got the run back for Belhaven in the top of the seventh when she connected on her fifth home run of the year giving the Blazers a much needed insurance run going into the bottom of the seventh.

The Blue Raiders threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh when Mikaila Etheredge singled with one out followed by an error on Burns that permitted Megan Huckaby to reach placing runners on first and second. Burns then settled in to get pinch hitter Kelly McCarty to ground into a fielder's choice for the second out and then Amy Harner hit into a force play at third base as Carr stepped on the bag to end the contest.

Belhaven only had four hits in the game, but were very efficient against a strong Lindsey Wilson pitching staff. O'Bannon led the Blazers by reaching base three times thanks to an RBI single and a pair of walks. O'Bannon was officially one for one at the plate with a run scored to go along with her run batted in. Wright was 1 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored while Carr collected one hit in three plate appearances with RBI included in the box score. Jaques had the other Blazer hit in three trips to the plate as she doubled and scored in the third inning.

Burns turned in another outstanding performance for Belhaven holding the Blue Raiders to one run on six hits. Burns did not walk a batter and struck out eight giving her 26 in three games so far at the national tournament. The win moves her record to 33-7 this season and her strikeout total jumps to 256 in 247 innings of work. Today's win also gave Burns her 33rd complete game in 2011.

“I'm very proud of how the team played today and stepped up against a great team in Lindsey Wilson," said Belhaven Head Coach Kevin Griffin. “I feel like our run in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament helped prepare us for this level of play. Burns also stepped up big for us once again and proved that she is one of the top five pitchers in the NAIA."

Goniea went 2 for 3 with an RBI at the dish for Lindsey Wilson on the home run in the sixth. Harner, Etheredge, Huckaby, and Kaylee Garrett all had one hit apiece for the Blue Raiders who ended up with six for the game. Anyibell Ramirez started in the circle and went 2.1 innings allowing two runs on three hits before giving way to Morgan Paschall who tossed the final 4.2 innings and surrendered one run. Ramirez walked one a struck out four while Paschall walked one and struck out six.

Belhaven will advance to Monday's round of eight where they will meet up with either William Carey in the opening contest of bracket. William Carey upended Olivet Nazarene University on Saturday 3-0 in their pool play championship game. The Blazers will play at 10:00 AM Monday morning and fans can follow all the action through live stats by clicking here.