GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Belhaven Blazers clinched a bid to the NAIA National Tournament on Saturday with a 6-3 victory over Faulkner University, which also put Belhaven into the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game, where the Blazers fell to Mobile 5-4.
Belhaven answered a two-run top of the first by Faulkner with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to start off the day.
Josie Porter scored on a ball put in play by
Makenzie Hawkins. Then,
Ashlee Hitt scored on a single by
Victoria Sorrell to tie it at two.
In the second inning of the opening game on the day for the Blazers, Porter gave Belhaven a lead it would never relinquish.
Stacey Luciani led the way with a one out single. Porter followed it up with a homerun into the wind in straight away center to give Belhaven a 4-0 lead.
In the third inning, Hawkins would score on a ground out by
Carly Yasses to go up 5-2.
After a run by Faulkner, Belhaven scored a sixth run in the game with a single by
Dominique Corona that scored Luciani.
Jordan Herring would hold Faulkner scoreless the rest of the way to give Belhaven an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament with the berth into the SSAC Championship game.
Herring allowed three runs, only one earned, on eight hits. She earned win 13 of the season.
In the Championship game that followed, Belhaven took a 2-1 lead over Mobile after two innings.
Yasses reached on a fielding error to shortstop that would score
Dani Craft and
Meg Garton on the play.
In the third inning, Belhaven added another run via a sacrifice fly by Hitt that scored Porter.
However, Mobile would strike back, benefitting on an error by the Blazers defense and capitalized to score four unearned runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-3 lead.
Belhaven would cut that deficit in half in the fourth when Craft scored on a passed ball. It wouldn't be enough though, as Belhaven would be unable to score again, despite stranding seven runners on base in the last four innings, including four in scoring position and three at third base.
Belhaven earns a spot in the NAIA National Tournament with one of two Automatic Qualifying bids given out to the final two teams in the SSAC Tournament. The Blazers will await the selection show on Thursday to find out the regional and its first round opponent.
