JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven baseball team wrapped up their season series with Talladega College, defeating the Tornadoes 9-5 at Smith-Wills Stadium. Over the two-game series, the Blazers outscored Talladega 25-9 and improved their season record to 26-15.
The Blazers got on the scoreboard first for the second straight day by way of a home run, the last of five on the series. Wednesday's version saw the first three hitters work their way aboard before
Adam Kowalczyk launched a grand slam over the wall in left to spark the offense.
Freshman
Chase Birch (1-0) received the starting nod for the home nine, delivering five shutout innings to pick up his first career victory. The Tornadoes (17-18) failed to score an earned run against
Chris Good or
Jim Tom Copeland before managing one off
David Hill and another against
Michael Wurster.
Talladega did their best to claw back into the ballgame in the ninth, but Belhaven closer
Zach Osha held them at bay. Osha cleaned up the jam in a non-save situation in the ninth, giving the Blazers their second win in as many days.
Tornado starter Hunter Wood was tagged for seven earned runs over three innings, and Joe Lamoureux and Johnny Garcia each gave up a run over the next five innings. Every Talladega bullpen of the series gave up at least a run against the Blazers, with Belhaven racking up 27 hits over the two games.
At the plate, Kowalczyk's grand slam was the highlight of another big offensive day for the Blazers, as the Marshall, Virginia junior finished his series with three home runs and nine RBI.
Emilio DeSilva added three singles, while
James Peterson gave Belhaven two doubles from the nine spot in the batting order.
Centerfielder DJ Haynes ended his day as the only Tornado hitter with a multi-hit game, driving in two of the five runs along the way. Haynes also claimed the only Talladega extra-base hit with an eighth inning triple.
Belhaven saw each of the first two in the order swipe two bases, while three hitters went for extra bases. The Blazers won their sixth straight non-conference game, improving to 17-11 at Smith-Wills Stadium this season.
The Blazers are set to return to action on Friday, when they take on Martin Methodist College in a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 1:00 pm, with live stats and audio available on the Blazers Digital Network.
