Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MARIETTA, Georgia – The Belhaven baseball team (32-14, 14-10 SSAC) dropped a pair of Southern States Athletic Conference contests to Southern Polytechnic State University on Saturday, falling by one run in each game. With the series sweep of the Blazers, the Hornets (32-14, 15-8 SSAC) have now won a season best eight consecutive games.

(Box Score-HTML Game 1) (Box Score-HTML Game 2)
The Blazers managed nine hits in the first game but were able to muster just two runs. Tyler Akins and Emilio DeSilva combined for five hits, while four other Blazers managed a base hit. Akins and Paul Pickerrell each drove in a run, but it wasn't enough to knock off the streaking Hornets.

Rayko Bellmas (5-3) took the hill for Belhaven in the opener, and the right hander allowed three runs on six hits while striking out a pair and walking one. Andrew Gunn, Austin McCann, and Josh Rogers each hurled a scoreless inning out of the bullpen, but Bellmas was ultimately hit with his third loss of the year.

SPSU starter Zach Smith lasted 6.1 innings, allowing eight Belhaven hits and both runs while fanning five and walking three. Blake Barrow, Troy Herterick, and Brantley Burton combined to record the final two outs out of the Hornet pen, with Burton picking up the save.

At the plate, outfielders Darius Reese and Chris Dykes combined for four of the team's hits, while Khirus Ware and Tyler Roach each drove in a run. All of the SPSU runs came across before the fourth inning, but Belhaven scraped across just one after that point.

Belhaven turned to left hander Chris Good for the series finale, and he responded by giving the Blazers four strong innings. Good surrendered just one earned run on four hits while issuing two walks and striking out two before departing with a 1-1 tie. Will Cockrell was the first man out of Belhaven's bullpen, and two hit batters turned into disaster for the road team.

Both came in to score before the Hornets tacked on one more off of Andrew Gunn, and again, the Hornets were done scoring. McCann, Rogers, and Akins teamed up to hold SPSU scoreless for the final 3.2 innings, but it proved to be too little too late.

The Blazers scratched across a run in each of the final two frames, but that was as close as they would get to pulling even in the contest. Cockrell (0-2) went down as the pitcher of record for the Blazers, who have now fallen in three straight.

SPSU countered with Brantley Burton on the mound, and after giving up one run on three hits through the first three innings, the Hornets went to their pen, as well. Cole Goodwin, Michael Maiocco, Troy Herterick, and Blake Barrow threw the series' final six innings, and Barrow picked up his sixth save of the year.

Offensively, Dalton Martinez and Tyler Garner combined for four of the seven Hornet hits, though four different SPSU hitters drove in a run. Pickerrell, Akins, and Brayden Dykes each found multi-hit games for the Blazers, but the team was unable to overcome eleven stranded base runners for the second time on the afternoon.

Belhaven returns to action on Tuesday, when they travel down the street to take on Millsaps College in a battle for the Cowboy Maloney Series trophy. First pitch from Twenty Field is set for 6:00 PM.