Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven baseball team opened a three game Southern States Athletic Conference series by sweeping a doubleheader from Bethel University (TN) Friday night at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers, ranked 23^rd in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, pitched a 3-0 shutout in game one and followed it up with a 10-2 win in the nightcap. Belhaven jumped to fourth in the SSAC standings as a result of the wins.
 
(Box Score-HTML Game 1) (Box Score-HTML Game 2)
Belhaven (36-14, 16-10 SSAC) continues to be unstoppable at home. The Blazers now own a 30-3 record at Smith-Wills Stadium this season and a big reason for that has been the pitching. Tyler Akins and Boomer Scarborough both recorded solid starts on the mound Friday night. Akins made his first start of the year after having been the closer up until this point in the season.
 
"Tyler and Boomer both had great ballgames for us and kept a great hitting Bethel team in check all night," Belhaven Head Coach Hill Denson said. "We felt like it was time to move Akins into a starting role and hopefully he can be one of the top guys in our rotation for the remainder of the season. Boomer had his breaking ball working tonight, which was key for him. He is tough to hit when he is able to get the breaking ball in for strikes.
 
In game one the Blazers picked up the only run they would need in the bottom of the second inning. Right fielder James Peterson broke through with a clutch two out RBI double off Bethel starter Gary Ward.
 
Bethel (21-17, 12-14 SSAC) didn't have an answer for Akins who shutdown the Wildcats in all seven innings. Akins and the Blazers took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth before adding on a couple of insurance runs. Peterson drove in his second run of the game with a single to center and shortstop Josiah Richard was credited with the other RBI thanks to a base hit of his own.
 
Akins (2-0) made the 3-0 lead standup with a scoreless seventh for his second win of the season. Akins allowed just two hits with four walks and seven strikeouts over seven innings.
 
Peterson led the Belhaven bats by going 2 for 3 with two runs batted in. Richard ended the game 1 for 2 with an RBI while Dominick Francia, Emilio DeSilva, Reagan Rutledge, and Akins also chipped in with base hits.
 
Ward was tagged with the loss for Bethel dropping his record to 4-6 on the season. Ward allowed three runs on seven hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Offensively, Lance Jarreld and Taylor Follis had the only hits for the Wildcats.
 
In game two, Belhaven quickly set the tone with four runs over the course of the first two innings. Second baseman Paul Pickerrell chased home Rutledge in the first inning on an RBI groundout to his counterpart at second base. In the third, Peterson knocked in the games second run on a fielder's choice and Rutledge capped the inning with his first home run of the season. The two run shot cleared the wall in right center giving the Belhaven a 4-0 lead.
 
Belhaven proceeded to rack up two runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to go up 10-2. Akins highlighted the fifth with a two run homer to left while Peterson, Rutledge, and Akins had additional RBI in the sixth and seventh innings.
 
Meanwhile, Belhaven starting pitcher Boomer Scarborough (7-6) held back the Wildcats for 6.2 innings en route to the win. Scarborough cruised through the first six frames before running into some trouble in the seventh. He along with Andrew Gunn out of the bullpen limited the damage to two runs. The final line on Scarborough was two runs on four hits with five walks and nine strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Josh Rogers and Austin McCann finished things off with scoreless eighth and ninth innings respectively.
 
The Blazers pounded out 10 hits with two apiece going to Rutledge, Akins, and Peterson. All three players had three runs batted in with Rutledge touch the plate three times himself. Rutledge also swiped his 52^nd base of the season and now not only does he own the Belhaven single season school record for steals, but the career one as well with 94 and counting. Hopefully the two performances by Peterson are a sign of things to come. Peterson combined to go 4 for 7 with five RBI in the twin bill.
 
Blake Chandler suffered the loss for Bethel on the hill and falls to 3-6 in 2014. Chandler permitted eight runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Wes Warren led the Wildcats with two hits and one run batted in. Ryan Huber had a single and a run scored while Martin Key was credited with a hit, RBI, and a run scored.
 
The Blazers will wrap up the three games series on Saturday at Smith-Wills Stadium starting at 1:00 PM. The team will also honor the senior players prior to Saturday's first pitch.
 
"Getting another good pitching performance will be crucial if we hope to sweep the series," Denson added. "If we can get at least five to six innings out of our starter and the guys out of the pen keep pitching the way they have, we'll have a shot to get the win."