THE RUNDOWN
JACKSON, Miss – The Belhaven University baseball team dropped two contests to the defending National Champions, UT Tyler Patriots, on Friday afternoon by final scores of 7-1 and 11-1.
The Blazers, played tough throughout the entire duration of both contests in front of a raucous and high energized crowd Friday afternoon at Smith Wills Stadium. The Patriots, now a Division II affiliated member of the NCAA, had their work cut out for them despite the overall scores in both games.
Belhaven struck first in game one of Friday's doubleheader in the first inning with the help of back to back singles from Justin Milam and Logan Walters. Walters single allowed Milam to cross home, giving Belhaven a 1-0 lead.
The Patriots answered back with two runs in the second and one in the third to hold a slight 3-1 lead.
Belhaven held the defending Division III National Champions to a 3-1 lead heading into the final inning of game one, yet the Patriots hung a four spot on the board in the inning to claim a 7-1 victory over Belhaven.
In game two, the Blazers and Patriots remained scoreless through the first two innings of play, until UT Tyler scored three runs in the third. Belhaven eventually gained one run back in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Patriot lead to 3-1.
The Patriots added one more run in the fifth and four in the sixth inning to take a commanding 8-1 advantage over the green and gold. Three more insurance runs were added in the eighth inning to give the defending champions a series winning victory by a final of 11-1
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Belhaven finished with 12 combined hits in the doubleheader.
Logan Walters led Belhaven in hitting as he finished 4-for-6 at the plate in both games with one RBI.
Justin Milam was 2-for-3 in game one with a run scored. Tucker Calhoun matched Milam going 2-for-3 in game two with a run scored.
Trip Benson was 1-for-3 in game two with a run batted in.
UP NEXT
The Blazers will remain at home for the final game of the series tomorrow morning beginning at 11:00 a.m. versus the Patriots. Tomorrow's contest will then be followed by a celebration for Head Coach Hill Denson at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
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