JACKSON, Miss. - Belhaven could not rally from an early deficit, as the Blazers fall to ninth-ranked Birmingham-Southern 8-4 on Tuesday afternoon at Smith-Wills Stadium.
 
The Panthers (26-9) got out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to a three-run second inning.
 
Trailing 4-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth, the Blazers (18-11) broke the shutout with three runs in the frame. After back-to-back singles by Adam Kowalczyk and Trey Eschberger and a Will Mullen flyout, JG Miley brought the runners home on a triple to right center field. The next batter, Tee Payne, scored the third run with a squeeze sacrifice bunt down the line at third base to bring home Miley. Belhaven trailed 4-3 through four innings.
 
The one-run deficit was as close as the Blazers would get with the Panthers in the contest. Birmingham-Southern scored twice in the fifth and added two more runs in the ninth.
 
Belhaven's fourth run came in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Kowalczyk doubled to straight-away center field, and Eschberger followed with an RBI single.
 
Both Jacob Byrd and Eschberger extended their respected on-base streaks. Eschberger, with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, has now reached base in 20 consecutive games.  Byrd, whose nine-game hitting streak came to an end, reached base on a walk in the first inning to extend his on-base streak to 15 straight games.
 
Coming up, Belhaven will next travel to Concordia Texas for a three-game series with the Tornados in American Southwest Conference play. First pitch of the series is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.