Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-Belhaven first baseman Jaime Bruno crushed a two out 9th inning grand slam to center field, sending the Blazers to a 7-3 Southern States Athletic Conference victory over Emmanuel Friday night at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Lions intentionally walked left fielder Anthony Doss in front of Bruno to load the bases and Bruno did not disappoint the home town crowd by delivering his seventh home run of the year.

Emmanuel struck for a run without the aid of a hit in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Belhaven starting pitcher Allen Johnson hit the leadoff batter Eric Esquilin and then a throwing error by Johnson on a fielder's choice by second baseman Josh Flippin allowed Esquilin to go to third. Shortstop Alex Delgado drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right field.

In the second, the Lions pounded out three hits and also took advantage of an error, plating what would be their final runs of the game. First baseman Michael Granda singled to left and with one out catcher Rudy Alvarez sent a single to center field. Right fielder Chad Robinson reached on a fielding error by Johnson and then Esquilin followed with an infield single to chase home Granda to make it 2-0. Pinch hitter Ben Grillo capped the scoring with a sac fly to left, extending Emmanuel's advantage to 3-0.

Belhaven began the comeback in the third when right fielder Tom Wertz singled with two outs and Doss brought him in on his 15th double of the year. Trailing 3-1 going into the fifth, the Blazers got things rolling again with a leadoff single by DH Kyle Wheeler followed by a sacrifice bunt from catcher Clay Bonds that moved him to second. Second baseman Jason Hicks singled to center and Wertz plated Wheeler on a squeeze bunt cutting the deficit to 3-2. Doss rounded in the equalizer with a triple to left center and the contest would stay 3-3 until the bottom of the ninth.

Wheeler led off the home half of the ninth with a single to left field, driving Shevock from the game. Bonds fouled out to first on a bunt attempt, but pinch runner Ryne Cook still made it to second on a wild pitch. Hicks drew a walk to put runners on first and second prior to Wertz flying out to center for the second out. Emmanuel elected to intentionally walk Doss to load the bases for Bruno and it proved to be a mistake. Relief pitcher Joshua Wright left a pitch up in the zone and Bruno blasted it over the wall in center to end the game.

Belhaven (27-12, 11-8 SSAC) had three players with two hits each, led by Doss with a double, triple, and two runs batted in. Center fielder Tyler Wrinkle and DH Kyle Wheeler collected two hits apiece followed by Bruno with one hit and four runs batted in. Bruno now has a team best seven home runs and 40 runs batted in. Wertz had a hit and an RBI and third baseman Bud Britt chipped in with one hit.

Johnson went all nine innings allowing three runs, only one earned, on seven hits with 12 strikeouts. Johnson struggled early, giving up a run in the first and two in the second, but settled in and kept Emmanuel off the board the rest of the night as he improves to 6-4 in 2012. Johnson retired a string of 13 hitters in a row during the middle innings, giving the offense a chance to get back in the game.

Emmanuel (24-17, 6-13 SSAC) had two hits apiece from DH Cory Willig and catcher Rudy Alvarez. Center fielder Eric Esquilin had one hit and an RBI and pinch hitter JoJo Bonet came up with a double. Pinch hitter Ben Grillo and shortstop Alex Delgado both had an RBI on sacrifice fly balls. Mark Shevock started and fired eight innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Shevock was charged with the loss as he falls to 3-5. Joshua Wright logged 0.2 innings and gave up the grand slam to Bruno in the ninth. Three of the four runs were tagged to his stat line.

Belhaven will wrap up the three game SSAC series on Saturday against Emmanuel with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 PM.