Box Score Game 1    Box Score Game 2
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven baseball team split a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader with Loyola University Friday afternoon, winning game one 4-0 while falling in the second contest 5-4. The Blazers, ranked 15th in the Preseason NAIA Top 25 Poll, nearly picked up the sweep battling back from a 5-0 deficit in game two with the tying run at third base in the ninth when the game ended.

Game One
Belhaven rode the arm of starting pitcher Geoffrey Thomas, who kept the Wolfpack grounded at the plate in game one. The Blazers took the lead in the bottom of the second on a two out RBI single by designated hitter Jamie Bruno. The hit drove in Ryne Cook who had walked with one out and advanced to second on a groundout by catcher Clay Bonds.

Belhaven tacked on two more in the third when center fielder Joshua Bouldin started the inning with a single and left fielder Anthony Doss doubled to right to put runners on second and third. Pitcher George Smith uncorked a wild pitch opening the door for Bouldin to cross the plate and then third baseman Bud Britt drove in Doss with an RBI single. Doss and Britt combined to produce the fourth run of the game in the fifth on back to back doubles.

Belhaven (10-4, 1-1 SSAC) was led in game one by Britt, who collected two hits in three trips to the plate and added two runs batted in. Doss had a pair of doubles and two runs scored followed by Bouldin who also went 2 for 3 with a run scored. Bruno had the other Blazer RBI on the run scoring single.

Geoffrey Thomas ran his record to 2-0 this season on the mound, holding Loyola's bats to three hits in six innings of work. Thomas walked two and struck out three. Nick Meekins finished the game out of the bullpen, firing a scoreless seventh inning to combine with Thomas on the shutout.

Loyola (9-4, 1-1 SSAC) was led by third baseman Lucas Wendt with two hits in three trips to the plate. Starting pitcher George Smith suffered the loss allowing four runs on seven hits over six innings.

Game Two
In the second game, Belhaven starting pitcher Allen Johnson and Loyola starter Matt Ditsworth were locked in a pitchers dual until the top of the seventh when the Wolfpack scored four of their five runs. Neither team had many opportunities up until that point with each side combining to produce only four hits.

Loyola finally broke through when Guidry picked up an RBI single to get the Wolfpack on the board. Shortstop Harold Toscano followed Guidry's hit with a two run single and center fielder Philip Cazayoux capped the seventh with an RBI base hit to center. The Wolfpack added what would prove to be a key insurance run in the eighth on another Guidry single to center field.

Trailing 5-0, Belhaven began to mount a comeback scoring three times in the bottom of the eighth. Ditsworth all of a sudden lost control and walked three batters to aid the Belhaven offense. The first run scored when Bruno hit a ground ball to Evan Turkish at first base who threw home trying to get Saunders. Catcher Bradley Brunet's tag was not in time as the run scored. A wild pitch put courtesy runner Justin Hill and Bruno on second and third respectively followed by a walk to pinch hitter Dillon Berry that loaded the bases. Bouldin had the only hit in the inning slamming a two run single to right center that cut the deficit to 5-3. With runners on the corners, Jeffrey Castille came in from the bullpen and got right fielder Jason Hicks to ground into a double play that ended the inning, limiting the Blazers to three runs.

In the ninth things looked promising at Doss kicked it off with a double and then Britt got hit by a pitch putting the tying run on base. Saunders hit a line shot to third baseman Lucas Wendt and Emilio DeSilva flied out to left field moving Doss to third. Pinch runner Josiah Richard stole second base and catcher Lucas Wendt fired the ball into center field allowing Doss to score from third and Richard to go to third. Catcher Clay Bonds followed with a walk putting the go ahead run on base. However, Castille buckled down and induced a ground out to second base from Bruno to end the game.

Belhaven was limited to four hits and four runs in Friday's second game. Bouldin had a pair of RBI's on the eighth inning single while Doss picked up his third double of the day. Singles were recorded by Britt and first baseman Saunders. Bruno knocked in a run on the fielder's choice in the eighth frame.

Belhaven starting pitcher Allen Johnson cruised through the first six innings before allowing four runs in the seventh and one in the eighth. Johnson took the loss and drops to 1-3 on the season after giving up all five runs on nine hits in 7.2 innings. Johnson walked only one hitter and struck out eight.

Loyola was paced in game two by Turkish, who collected three hits and scored two runs. Guidry was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Cazayoux went 2 for 5 with one run batted in. Ditsworth grabbed the win on the hill to move to 2-0 this season. Ditsworth gave up three runs on three hits with a three walks and six strikeouts in 7.1 innings. Castille notched the save firing the final 1.2 innings in which he gave up one unearned run on one hit.

Belhaven and Loyola will conclude the three game series on Saturday afternoon beginning at 4:00 PM at Smith-Wills Stadium. Fans can hear all the play-by-play action of game three of the series courtesy of Stretch Internet by clicking here.