JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven baseball team returned to their winning ways on Monday, defeating Tougaloo College 9-0 at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers now stand at 5-0 against the Bulldogs this season, outscoring them 59-6 along the way.
"Every win is important to us, as we're trying to move up in our conference standings and in the national rankings," Head Coach
Hill Denson said. "We got to try a lot of things defensively today, and we're pleased with the way it turned out."
Junior
Stephen Solomon (1-0) started on the mound for Belhaven (23-12), delivering five strong innings in his season debut. The right hander allowed just four hits and fanned two before turning things over to the Belhaven bullpen.
Joey Harris,
Richard Richardson,
Jacob Byrd, and
CJ Machete each gave the Blazers a scoreless inning in relief, allowing Solomon to pick up his first Belhaven win. The bullpen combined to allow just one hit and strike out two while facing just one above the minimum.
For Tougaloo (3-23), Christopher Robinson (0-2) held the Blazers in check for more than four innings but ultimately took his second loss of the season. Robinson allowed six earned runs on seven Belhaven hits while issuing seven walks before Jamari Johnson tosses a perfect final two frames.
Offensively,
James Peterson went 2-for-4 at the plate while driving in a pair of runs, while
Paul Pickerrell was the only other Blazer hitter with an extra-base hit. Belhaven managed just seven hits on the afternoon, but it proved to be enough as the pitching staff shut out the Bulldogs for the third time this year.
Reagan Rutledge stole two bases, giving him 30 for his senior season, while
Emilio DeSilva took the team lead in walks. After drawing three Monday afternoon, DeSilva now has 29 for the year, one ahead of Rutledge.
The Blazers return to action on Wednesday evening, when they head to Clinton to take on Mississippi College in their first Cowboy Maloney Series game this year. First pitch against the Choctaws is slated for 6:00 pm.
"Cowboy Maloney games are always an exciting thing for us," Denson said. "We only see each team one time this year, so Wednesday will be a big game."
