Box Score vs. CMC    Box Score vs. Campbellsville
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Belhaven softball team finished a successful campaign at the star-studded Gulf Shores Invitational with a split on Saturday afternoon. Belhaven defeated #18 Central Methodist  4-0 in the first game of the day, but fell 7-4 to Campbellsville in extra innings.

Jordan Cole led off the game against Central Methodist by getting hit by a pitch and immediately put the pressure on Eagles' starting pitcher Aubrey Utley. Cole has led off a game with a walk or hit by pitch in each of the Blazers last six games, which has directly led to the team's early success.

She was thrown out on a fielder's choice later in the inning, but Denee' Crawford and Shelby Watson helped the Blazers jump out to a 1-0 lead after one inning played.

Crawford doubled down the line to left field, which put Lizzy Hess on third base. After Katy Adair struckout, Watson hit a single up the middle of the diamond for a two-out RBI single.

Adair was on the mound for the third time in the Gulf Shores Invitational and she was as sharp as ever through six innings of work. She allowed three hits and no runs, all while striking out a third of the batters that she faced in the game.

She consistently frustrated Eagles' hitters in the first six innings before relinquishing the circle to relief pitcher Ginger Lonergan in the top of the seventh.

While the Eagles' offense sputtered, Belhaven was back at work in the bottom of the fourth. Dominique Corona walked with one out and she was subsequently moved to third on a single by Jessica Paris. Cole doubled to the wall in right center field bringing in Corona to score and ushering Paris to third base on the play.

Hess then sacrificed down the first base line to score Paris and move Cole over to third. With two outs in the inning Crawford added another RBI to her season total with an RBI single to score the Blazers' second baseman, Cole.
Adair improved to 5-1 with the victory and allowed only one run in 20 innings of work during the two day tournament.

The second game of the day was a rematch from two weeks ago when the Blazers defeated Campbellsville University 8-5 at the Shorter Invitational. The five runs earned against Belhaven pitching were the most runs they had given up in a game coming into the day.

Belhaven struck first in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Paris that scored Watson from third, giving the Blazers a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers responded in the top of the fourth with a run of their own on a double by Alyssa Barker, scoring Kristin Benton. Unfortunately for the Blazers, Benton had reached base on a throwing error which would have ended the inning without a run being scored.

The Blazers would tack on three more runs, while starter Paris only surrendered two in five and a third innings in the circle. When her replacement Lonergan left the circle at the end of six innings, the Blazers held a 4-2 lead.

Adair came back to close out the game for Belhaven, but the Tigers figured out the Blazers' ace and tied the game in the top of the seventh inning. Campbellsville's Taylor Borders blasted a pitch from Adair over the left field wall to tie the game at four all, sending the game into extra innings.

The Tigers batted around again in the eighth inning, putting three more runs on the board against Adair. Belhaven never got a hit off of Victoria Decker after the sixth inning and the Tigers were able to escape with a come from behind victory against the Blazers.

Belhaven won three out of five games in the tournament and improved their record to 8-2 on the year. They return to action with a double header next Friday in Alcorn, Mississippi to take on the Braves of Alcorn State.