Box Score JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven baseball team withstood a late rally by Campbellsville University (KY) on day two of the Belhaven Invitational Friday afternoon at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on for a 6-3 victory, their eighth consecutive win after losing the season opener.

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"I thought we got off to a good start tonight and we swung the bats well early in the game," said Belhaven Head Coach Hill Denson. "We got the momentum early and then lost it a bit towards the end of the game. However, the most important thing is that we were able to hang on and get the win."

Belhaven (8-1) struck for a run in the first inning when second baseman Paul Pickerrell led off with a base hit and proceeded to steal second and third base before third baseman Gabe Wilson drove him in with a double to make it 1-0. Rayko Bellmas started on the bump for the Blazers and kept the Campbellsville (0-2) hitters at bay until the offense heated up again in the fifth inning.

Belhaven scored five times in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-0 over the Tigers. Right fielder Walt McCullough drove in the first run on a base hit to center field followed by an RBI base hit off the bat of centerfielder Reagan Rutledge. Relief pitcher Brad Williams balked in the third run before giving up a two run homer to first baseman Tyler Akins. It was his first round tripper of the season and the second for Belhaven.

Bellmas gave way to the bullpen in the seventh and the Tigers struck for all three of their runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Justin Atkinson walked three in the seventh, but avoided the big inning by inducing a double play ground ball. The lone run crossed the plate on a balk. In the eighth, Campbellsville catcher Carlos Torres drove in two on a single to center off Drew Broyles. However, the Blazers were able to work out of trouble as Austin McCann finished the eighth and Akins picked up his third save of the year with a scoreless ninth.

Pickerrell led Belhaven at the plate with three hits, including a double and two runs scored. Akins picked up two RBI on the home run while Rutledge, McCullough, and Wilson each had a hit and one run batted in. The Blazers stole four bases with three being recorded by Pickerrell.

Bellmas (2-0) turned in a solid start on the mound, logging six innings of scoreless baseball. Bellmas allowed just three hits and struck out five. He had good command of the strike zone as evidenced by just one walk.

Shortstop Ricky McColloch had three hits for Campbellsville and Torres added two hits and two runs batted in. Chris Tuma (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings.

Belhaven will wrap up the weekend against fourth ranked Missouri Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Spartans won their first two games of the tournament scoring a combined 32 runs. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM.