THE RUNDOWN

JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven University baseball team dominated the Millsaps Majors on Wednesday evening in game one of the three games Cowboy Maloney Series, winning by a final score of 13-7.

Belhaven's starting pitcher, Kyle Whittington, was dialed in from the very first pitch. The junior from Perkinston, Miss. was consistent with his fastball, registering 86 on the radar gun at times, while his off-speed pitches, on the other hand, were exceptional. 

By the time the fifth inning had ended, Whittington had fanned a total of 11 batters in 20 batters that he had faced. With Belhaven already out to a commanding 6-1 lead after five, and still under the pitch count, Whittington would sit the remainder of the game in preparation for this weekends series against Howard Payne, in which he is expected to be the starter for game three.

Whittington and the Blazers pitching was not the only bright spot on the evening. The Blazers bats came to life in the 13-7 thrashing over the Majors for bragging rights in the Riverside Rumble on the diamond. 

Five Blazers registered two or more hits in the contest, compiling 16 total hits as a team. With singles from Tucker Calhoun, Evan Moore, Steven Liuzza, and another double added by Liuzza with runners on board, the Blazers quickly struck for six runs, taking a 6-1 lead after four complete innings. 

Millsaps got one run back to make it 6-2, before Liuzza and Justin Milam each drove in one run off of a single and sacrifice fly in the sixth and seventh innings to extend the lead to 8-2.

The eighth inning was an inning that saw a bunch of runs added to the scoreboard for each team as Millsaps put up a four-spot in the top half of the inning, cutting the Blazers lead back to 8-6, before a five-run spot in the bottom half of the inning for Blazers gave enough insurance runs to claim game one Wednesday evening within the Cowboy Maloney Series between to two crosstown rivals. 

The win was uplifting for the Blazers, improving to 6-7 overall on the season, as they prepare for a three-game conference series this weekend versus Howard Payne.

ASSISTANT COACH JOSH CLARKE ON THE DOMINATE PERFORMANCE OF WHITTINGTON

"We sent Whitt back out there tonight to try to get him right. He's got really good stuff but just hadn't been himself the last two weekends. Hopefully, this gets him rolling because we need him in order for us to get where we want to go."

COACH CLARKE ON THE WIN AND THE DIRECTION THIS TEAM TOOK TONIGHT

"Great team win tonight. The bats finally came alive, we ran the bases hard, and for the most part, we pitched and defended pretty well. Hopefully, this will get us rolling in the right direction as we head on the road this weekend."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Whittington was a force on the mound tonight. Finishing with 5.0 complete innings, 11 strikeouts, one earned run, and allowing only two hits in 20 batters he faced.

Evan Moore, Tucker Calhoun, Trip Benson, and Logan Walters all recorded two hits in the game. 

Steven Liuzza had a career night at the plate, ending the night 4-for-5 with four runs batted in, one double, three singles, and two runs scored. 

For complete play-by-play and individual stats click here.

UP NEXT

Belhaven will travel to Brownwood, Texas this weekend to take on Howard Payne in a three-game American Southwest Conference matchup beginning on Friday with a doubleheader set for 12:00 and 3:00 p.m.

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