Box Score Game 1    Box Score Game 2
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven baseball team swept both games of a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader against Emmanuel College Saturday afternoon at Smith-Wills Stadium. Both contests went 10 innings with the Blazers taking game one 5-4 followed by an 8-7 decision in game two. Belhaven won all three games of the weekend series in the final at bat and all three were come from behind victories. Jaime Bruno hit a walk off grand slam on Friday night to procure a 7-3 win in the series opener.

Game One
Emmanuel pulled out in front 1-0 in the top of the first, scoring a run on an RBI base hit by DH Michael Granda. Shortstop Alex Delgado led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error by first baseman Jaime Bruno to get into scoring position. The Lions took advantage of two Belhaven errors in the fifth to tack on another run and pull in front 2-0. Delgado reached on an error by second baseman Jason Hicks and then scored on a fielder error by Bud Britt at third.

It was Belhaven's turn to benefit from an Emmanuel error in the home half of fifth, leading to four unearned runs and a 4-2 advantage. With one out, catcher Clay Bonds reached on a throwing error by Ben Grillo at first base. The throw pulled pitcher Steven Barnett off the bag at first. That gave the Blazers the extra out they needed as they went on to score all the runs with two outs. With two outs, right fielder Tom Wertz singled up the middle and left fielder Anthony Doss singled home courtesy runner Justin Hill. Bruno cashed in Wertz and Doss on a two run triple down the right field line and Britt capped with inning with a run scoring single to center field.

Emmanuel countered with a run in the sixth and a run in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4. Pinch hitter JoJo Bonet plated Ben Grillo with a single to right center, but Wertz saved another possible run by throwing out second baseman Elliot Beard who was trying to go to third base. Then in the seventh, the Lions loaded the base against closer Josh Clarke and tied the game when right fielder Cory Willig tapped an infield RBI single to second base.

The game remained deadlocked at 4-4 until the 10th when the Blazers finally pushed across the winning run. Emmanuel had a chance to score in the top of the 10th by loading the bases, but failed to do so. The Lions ended up leaving 13 runners stranded in game one. However, Belhaven did not miss its opportunity as Bonds brought in Wrinkle on a squeeze bunt to end the game. Wrinkle made the squeeze play possible by opening the bottom of the 10th with a double.

Belhaven (29-12, 13-8 SSAC) had a team leading three hits and two runs batted in from Bruno in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday to pace the offense. Left fielder Anthony Doss was 2 for 5 with and RBI and shortstop Dillon Berry went 2 for 4 at the dish. Doss and Bruno each picked up their 16th doubles of the season. Second baseman Jason Hicks had two hits followed by catcher Clay Bonds who produced a hit and one RBI.

Jon Patino earned the win in game one as he pitched a scoreless 2.2 innings in relief allowing just one hit. Patino struck out one and moves to 5-1 this season. Brett Blaise started the game and pitched 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits for a no decision. Only one of the runs charged to Blaise was earned.

Emmanuel (24-19, 6-15 SSAC) had 12 hits in the game as a team and four players had two hits each led by DH Michael Granda who also had an RBI in four plate appearances. Right fielder Cory Willig had a run batted in, shortstop Alex Delgado scored two runs, and second baseman Elliot Beard rounded out the group with two hits. Relief pitcher Joshua Wright suffered the loss allowing one run on hits in 3.1 innings dropping his record to 4-6. Barnett started and was tagged with the four unearned runs on nine hits in five innings.

Game Two
Emmanuel looked to be on its way to a win in game two, powering out to a 6-0 lead through the first four frames. Third baseman Desmond Harp doubled in Beard, who had double to open the inning, for the game's first run. Granda made it a 2-0 lead with an RBI base hit to cap the first inning. The Lions threatened to score in the second, but left the bases loaded. However in the third, Emmanuel struck again on a sac fly by Grillo to center field.

The Lions doubled the lead from 3-0 to 6-0 with three runs in the top of the fourth. Granda bounced a two run single to left field and left fielder Will Gretsch rounded in Delgado on a base hit to left.

Belhaven finally got things clicking in the fifth by getting to starting pitcher Blaine Seagraves for two runs. Britt broke up the no hitter with a leadoff single and with two outs Berry doubled in Wrinkle to make it 6-1. Pinch hitter Ryan Saunders then came up with a clutch RBI base hit to right to cut the deficit to 6-2. In the sixth, Doss and Bruno had back to back doubles to get things going and then DH Kyle Wheeler singled to left chasing home Britt who had reached on a fielder's choice. Wrinkle advanced to third on the hit and Wheeler went to second on what would prove to be a costly fielding error by Gretsch in left that put Wheeler into scoring position. The next batter Berry drove in Wrinkle and Wheeler on single to center to tie the game at 6-6.

Both teams let some opportunities to score slip by the board until the top of the 10th when Emmanuel pulled back in front 7-6 on a sacrifice fly to center by Delgado. The fly ball drove in center fielder Chad Robinson who had doubled to start the inning. The Blazers didn't stay down for long as Wrinkle answered Robinson's leadoff double with one of his own to open the home half of the 10th. Ryne Cook moved him to second on a ground ball to short and then Berry's infield single tied the game at 7-7. Delgado threw the ball away on the play and that let Berry go to second. The game then ended when Bonds hit a ground ball to Harp at third, who in turn threw the ball high of first and out of play allowing Berry to score the game winner.

Berry went 3 for 4 with four runs batted in and Doss was 2 for 3 with a run scored to guide Belhaven's offense. Wrinkle slammed two hits and scored three runs. Bruno, Wheeler, and Saunders each had one hit and an RBI. The Blazers had four extra base hits on doubles from Doss, Bruno, Wrinkle, and Berry. Doss and Bruno bumped their season doubles total to 17.

Nick Meekins (2-0) was credited with the win in relief, retiring two batters in the top of the 10th. Ryan Kassab didn't get the win, but was a big reason for Belhaven's victory as he went 5.1 innings out the bullpen holding the Lions to one run on eight hits. Kassab bought enough time for Blazer bats to get back in the game. Geoffrey Thomas started and pitched 3.1 innings, surrendering five runs on seven hits.

Emmanuel was led by Harp who went 4 for 5 with and RBI and two runs scored. Beard had three hits and two runs scored, Granda had three hits and three runs batted in, and left fielder Will Gretsch notched three hits and an RBI. The Lions outhit Belhaven 17-11 in game two. Ryan Phillips was the pitcher of record on the losing side as he gave up two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings on the mound to fall to 0-1.

Belhaven will be back in action on Tuesday at home taking on Tougaloo College beginning at 6:00 PM at Smith-Wills Stadium.