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Blazers Fly Past Choctaws in Maloney Series Opener

Box Score JACKSON, Miss. – The bats came back to life on Tuesday for the Belhaven baseball team in an 11-1 victory over Mississippi College in the opening game of the 2014 Maloney Series at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers erupted for 11 hits after being limited to two runs on two hits Saturday afternoon against Missouri Baptist.

(Box Score-HTML)
"It was a good win for us tonight against a good Mississippi College ballclub," Belhaven Head Coach Hill Denson said. "We got off to a solid start swinging the bats and that set the tone for the rest of the game. We've been struggling scoring runs early all season, but tonight we were able to do it."

Four of the eleven runs crossed the plate in the first inning beginning with an RBI double off the bat of first baseman Tyler Akins. Brayden Dykes singled home Akins followed by an RBI groundout from center fielder Reagan Rutledge. Right fielder Emilio DeSilva capped the inning on a base hit to right that chased home third baseman Gabe Wilson.

Belhaven (9-2) tacked on another run in the third thanks to the bat of Rutledge again. Rutledge found the gap in the middle of the field to chase home courtesy runner James Peterson with a base hit to make it 5-0.

The Blazers took advantage of two Mississippi College (0-1) errors in the fifth to plate five more runs. Akins reached on an error by third baseman Caleb Morris and eventually scored when Wilson drove him in from third on another misplayed ground ball. An additional runner also crossed the plate on that miscue. Rutledge and DeSilva added two more RBI's on base hits and Akins came back to the plate again with the bases loaded and drew a walk. DeSilva scored on the Akins walk to extend the lead to 10-0.

Ben Allison started the game on the bump for the Blazers and turned in a solid five innings before handing things over to the bullpen. The Choctaws scored their only run of the night on a sacrifice fly off reliever Zach Rowell. Chris Casto drove in left fielder Kyle Blount on a deep fly ball down the left field line.

Belhaven eventually ended the game in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Akins. Third baseman Dan Ammirati reached on another Choctaw error to start the frame before heading to third on a single by second baseman Paul Pickerrell. That put Ammirati in position to score on the ball hit to right center by Akins. The 11 Blazer run put the 10 run rule into effect.

Allison (3-0) earned the win for Belhaven on the mound, limiting Mississippi College to just three hits on the night. Allison did not walk a batter and struck out one, lowering his ERA to under one for the season. At the plate, Rutledge led the way with two hits and three runs batted in. Akins collected three RBI and Dykes had three hits and one run batted in. DeSilva ended the night with two hits and two runs batted in.

Blake Mcilwain (0-1) was charged with the loss for Mississippi College. He surrendered four runs on five hits in the first inning. First baseman Marty Stringfellow had two of the six hits for the Choctaws.

Belhaven will open the Southern States Athletic Conference schedule on Friday when the team hosts William Carey University in game one of a three game series at Smith-Wills Stadium. The first pitch is slated for 4:00 PM.
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