Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven baseball team scored nine unanswered runs and rolled to a 9-1 victory over Tougaloo Wednesday night at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers, ranked 25th in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, fell behind 1-0 after two innings, but stormed back with a run in the third, two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and five runs in the sixth to clinch their fifth win in a row.

Tougaloo (4-31) enjoyed the early lead scoring in the second on an RBI groundout by third baseman Logan Smith that sent in second baseman Kevin Hastings who had double to lead off the inning. Belhaven (26-12) did not stay behind long, pulling even with a run in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Jason Hicks. Catcher Clay Bonds had led the inning off with a single and courtesy runner Justin Hill crossed the plate after moving to third on a stolen base and wild pitch.

The Blazers went on top with two in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Tyler Wrinkle and an RBI double off the bat of DH Kyle Wheeler. Leading 3-1, Belhaven tacked on an unearned run in the fifth without the aid of a hit. The Bulldogs committed three errors and a fielding error by Smith at third on a ground ball by right fielder Tom Wertz permitted shortstop Dillon Berry to score.

Belhaven then put the game on ice in the sixth scoring five runs on six hits. Wrinkle singled with one out and advanced to third on a double by Wheeler. That setup a sac fly by Bonds to make it a 5-1 game. Berry followed that up with a two out RBI base hit to left and Hicks kept the hit parade going with a single to left. After a wild pitch by John Alford moved runners to second and third, Smith committed an error on another ground ball by Wertz increasing the lead to 7-1. Alford went on to balk in Hicks and left fielder Anthony Doss capped the inning by producing an RBI single to left center.

The Blazers were led by Wheeler and Doss who had two hits and an RBI apiece. Hicks, Wrinkle, Bonds, and Berry each had one hit and a run batted in while third baseman Bud Britt and first baseman Jaime Bruno each collected a hit. As a team, Belhaven pounded out 10 hits and left only five men on base. The Blazers added two more doubles to the season total and now own 83.

Belhaven used six pitchers Wednesday night and Ryan Kassab came away with the victory by pitching the third and fourth frames. Kassab is now 1-0 on the season following his two inning performance that did not yield a hit or a walk, but generated four strikeouts. Brandon McHenry started the game and went two innings giving up the only run on three hits. Matthew Shaw also tossed two innings followed by Robert Marzoni, John Patino, and Josh Clarke with one inning apiece. Blazer pitchers combined to strikeout 15 Tougaloo hitters on the night.

The Bulldogs had five hits in the game with five different batters putting one in the scorebook. Smith had the only RBI and one base hit followed by first baseman Donnie Norwood, Jr., DH Harold Sanford, Hastings, and right fielder Derell McLemore with the other four in the contest. Alford pitched eight innings and was charged with nine runs on 10 hits. Only five of the runs were earned due to four Tougaloo errors.

Belhaven will be back in action on Friday, opening a three game Southern States Athletic Conference series against Emmanuel at Smith-Wills Stadium. The first pitch is slated for 6:00 PM.