JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven baseball team opened the 2015 campaign on a high note, defeating the University of St. Francis 7-3 at Smith-Wills Stadium. After finishing 32-5 at home a season ago, the Blazers were able to continue the trend on Friday evening.
The Cougars got on the scoreboard in the top of the first with an RBI groundout by Zach Vandlandingham, but the Blazers answered in the bottom half. Reagan Rutledege and
Emilio DeSilva each walked to start the frame before
Paul Pickerrell scored Rutledge from third.
Adam Kowalczyk then singled through the left side to plate DeSilva, and two batters later, Kowalczyk came in to score on a wild pitch. Belhaven led 3-1 after the first inning and wouldn't relinquish the lead for the duration of the game.
Belhaven starter
Ben Allison found himself in trouble in the third, as Vanlandingham stepped into the batter's box with the bases loaded and no outs. Pickerrell caught a frozen rope at second base before tagging a runner and flipping to shortstop
Gabe Wilson to give the Blazers the third triple play in school history.
DeSilva's sac fly gave the Blazers a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning, but right fielder Mitch Hughes got the run back for the Cougars in the fourth. Pickerrell lined a sacrifice fly of his own in the home fifth, giving Belhaven a 5-2 advantage.
Allison gave the Blazers five strong innings, paving the way his first win of the year on the mound. The Batavia, Illinois senior allowed one earned run on three hits while walking four and fanning four.
The bullpen picked up where Allison left off, as one reliever after another turned in a solid outing.
Jim Tom Copeland,
Jacob Byrd,
David Hill, and
Michael Wurster each recorded a scoreless frame in relief, combining to surrender just one hit over the final four innings.
Rutledge drew his third walk of the game in the seventh and ended up on third base after an errant pickoff attempt by reliever Jake Stover. DeSilva lined a base hit to right but was able to come all the way around to score after a diving effort along the right field line fell short.
The top four in the Blazers' order (Rutledge-DeSilva-Pickerrell-Kowalczyk) combined for four hits, six RBI, seven runs, and four stolen bases to spark the Green and Gold to a season-opening victory. St. Francis and Belhaven resume play on Saturday, with first pitch of the doubleheader slated for 1:00 pm from Smith-Wills.
