JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven baseball team suffered a 7-1 conference loss at the hands of the NAIA's top team of Friday evening, falling 7-1 to the Faulkner Eagles at Smith-Wills Stadium. With the loss, the Blazers fall to 28-18 overall and 10-14 in the Southern States Athletic Conference.
Ben Allison received the starting nod for the home team, allowing just one earned run over the game's first eight innings. Faulkner struck for four in the ninth inning, spoiling one of the best starting pitching performances of the season and handing Allison his third loss.
Jack Charleston earned the win for the top-ranked Eagles (36-8, 18-4 SSAC), surrendering a run over 8.1 innings of work. Charleston and Allison combined for 266 pitches and 17 innings of in the series opener, though the final frame made the game look like less of pitcher's duel.
Offensively,
Hunter Sutton paced the Blazers with a pair of doubles, while
Paul Pickerrell was the only other Belhaven hitter with a multi-hit game.
Gabe Wilson and
Hamilton Harper each added bases hits, but the Blazers were unable to avoid their third loss in their last four conference games.
Designated hitter Randy Joung drove in three runs with a 2-for-5 effort at the plate for Faulkner, and Chris Madera added his eighth home run of the season. The Eagles totaled nine hits and outhit their hosts by three, but Faulkner escaped Friday evening with their 18th conference win.
Belhaven and Faulkner are set to wrap up their series on Saturday with a doubleheader from Smith-Wills Stadium. First pitch is set for 1:00, with the 2011 SSAC Championship Blazers team being recognized between games.
