THE RUNDOWN
JACKSON, Miss. - Game one. Check. Game two. Check. Game three. Check. The Belhaven University baseball team completed a midweek non-conference schedule sweep of cross-town rival Millsaps College by defeating the Majors in every facet of the game on Wednesday by a final score of 12-6.
Belhaven University is nearing its final months of its four year NCAA provisional period before the University is officially declared as an official member of the NCAA in the coming months.
While growing pains were to be expected, especially when becoming a member of arguably the toughest conference in all of Division III, it certainly did not stop the Blazers from completing three straight thrashings of fellow Division III member and crosstown rival, Millsaps College, this season.
On Wednesday afternoon, Belhaven delivered the dagger to the Majors, dominating them on the mound, with the bat, and on the base paths, showing why they earned the Cowboy Maloney Series Trophy last month when Belhaven defeated the Majors in game two by a final of 8-5 back on March 19. Belhaven previously won on March 6 by a final of 13-7 in game one.
In game three, after trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning, Belhaven found a two out spark that seemed to travel down the lineup, as six Blazers all picked up hits with two outs. Evan Moore, Tucker Calhoun, and Hunter White all delivered RBI hits, with White delivering an RBI double that plated both Tucker Calhoun and Evan Moore, giving Belhaven a 4-2 lead.
The very next at bat, with White standing on second, Justin Milam crushed a ball over the left field wall for a two run home run that extended Belhaven's lead to 6-2. Milam's home run was just a foreshadowing of the type of afternoon the Junior third baseman was going to have at the plate, as his night was not yet wrapped up.
Millsaps earned two more runs back in the fourth inning, yet Belhaven continued to knock around the Majors pitching staff with four more plated runs in the bottom of the fourth with a two run single from Justin Milam, followed by a two run double from Nick Lucido to give Belhaven a commanding 10-4 lead.
Milam finished Wednesday with a career night, delivering a double off the top of the wall in left center field in his first plate appearance before following it up with the two run home run to left field, a single to left, a double to center field, and finally in the seventh inning, collecting yet another two run single to left field for his fifth hit of the game. The hit pushed Belhaven's lead to 12-5.
The Junior from Madison, Mississippi finished his night a perfect 5-for-5 with six runs batted in, two singles, two doubles, and one home run. Milam finished just ninety feet away from completing the cycle at the plate.
Belhaven finished with an astonishing 18 total hits in game three, on their way to defeating the Majors by a final score of 12-6 to cap off the sweep in three games and send Head Coach Hill Denson off in perfect fashion in his final game against the Majors.
IMPORTANT SERIES STATS
Belhaven scored a total of 33 runs in the three game series this season against Millsaps along with a total of 44 hits and 32 stolen bases.
Belhaven's top two team hitting performances each came against Millsaps with 18 hits on Wednesday and 17 hits back on March 6.
The teams top three stolen base games all came against Millsaps with 15 steals as a team in game one on March 6, followed by 9 in game two, and 8 on Wednesday in game three.
The top two runs scored in a game for Belhaven this year came against the Majors with 13 runs scored in game one and 12 in game three.
WEDNESDAY'S TOP GAME STATS
Five Blazers had multiple hit games with Milam leading the way with five hits. Milam was ninety feet away from hitting for the cycle. He had one home run and six runs batted in.
Evan Moore, Milam, and Tucker Calhoun each scored twice with Hunter White leading the charge with three runs scored. Moore and White each had three hits and a run batted in.
Nick Lucido had two runs batted in on one hit, which resulted in a double. Calhoun had two runs scored on two hits and an RBI.
Brian Hendrickson picked up the win in relief.
For complete game stats click here.
UP NEXT
Belhaven will return to Smith Wills Stadium tomorrow for the final series of the season with a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. against McMurry in an American Southwest Conference matchup.
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