Box Score JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven baseball team improved to 23-7 overall on Wednesday afternoon after defeating Tougaloo College 3-2 at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Bulldogs dropped to 6-17-1 with the loss, and the Blazers have now taken both games this season against their crosstown rivals.

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Belhaven got on the scoreboard first after Tyler Akins' 11th double of the year drove in Paul Pickerrell in the first inning. Tougaloo scratched across a run in the second inning before adding another two frames later.

The bottom of the sixth proved to be the key inning, as the home nine found their second timely hit of the ballgame. With runners on the corners and two outs, Gabe Wilson lined a 2-RBI triple to right center that gave the Blazers all the runs they would need to pull out the victory.

Wilson went 2-3 at the plate, while Akins' 3-4 effort included the only other extra base hits of the game for either squad. Reagan Rutledge became the third Blazer with a multi-hit game, while Emilio DeSilva and Josiah Richard contributed a base hit apiece.

For the Bulldogs, catcher Emmanuel Frias had two singles, while Riki Vasquez, Tony Mitchell, and Corlis Oliver each recorded a hit. Oliver was credited with the team's only run driven on for the afternoon.

On the mound, Tougaloo lefty John Alford pitched an economic seven frames, allowing three runs on nine Belhaven hits. Despite lasting into the eighth inning, Alford was hit with his fifth loss of the campaign. Adam McPhail hurled a scoreless bottom of the eighth for the visiting Bulldogs.

Belhaven sent Will Cockrell to the mound for the first pitch, and the right hander responded by tossing three innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits. Ben Allison was the first man out of the Blazer bullpen and permitted a run on two hits through his three innings of work.

It proved to be enough to qualify the undefeated Allison for his sixth victory of the year, and his teammates did the rest of the work. Chris Good, Andrew Gunn, and Tyler Akins each threw a scoreless inning, with Akins picking up his tenth save of the season.

Belhaven returns to action on Friday, when they host Loyola University (NO) in game one of a three game Southern States Athletic Conference series. The first pitch is set for 6:00 PM from Smith-Wills Stadium.