HOUSTON, Texas - The Belhaven University Baseball team took to the road for a weekend series against the University of St. Thomas Celts. The series started with the teams splitting a doubleheader on Friday, March 12, with the Celts taking game one, 11-10, in extra innings, while the Blazers got a 10-0 win in game two.

GAME ONE

The Blazers got on the board first as they plated three runs in the top of the second as Trip Benson hit a leadoff single and then went from first base to third base on a single by Nathan Herron. Benson then scored on a sacrifice fly by Evan Moore followed by Reed Bolton reaching base after being hit by the pitcher. Herron and Bolton later scored on a double by Kyle McLaughlin giving the Blazers a 3-0 lead. 

However, the Celts would take the lead as they scored solo runs in the second and third innings, then plated six runs in the fourth to take an 8-3 lead over the Blazers. The Celts lead would be shortlived as the Blazers responded with a six run inning of their own in the fifth as McLaughlin and Hunter White hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. McLaughlin then scored on a double by Nick Lucido, while White scored by an error during the play which also advanced Lucido to third base. Lucido then scored on a double by Benson who then later scored on a single by Evan Moore. Moore later scored as Bolton reached base on an error and then Caleb Whittle drew a walk. Bolton and Whittle scored on a single by McLaughlin giving the Blazers a 9-8 lead.

The Celts regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth plating two runs to take a 10-9 lead over the Blazers, while the Blazers plated two runs in the seventh to retake the lead as Herron led off the inning with a triple and then scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Whittle would hit a two-out double and then scored on a single by McLaughlin to give the Blazers an 11-10 lead. However, the lead was short-lived as the Celts tied the game with a solo run in the bottom of the seventh. The game remained tied until the Celts got a walkoff single to score the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning securing the 12-11 win.

Beau Louviere got the start on the mound for the Blazers and pitched three innings in a no decision effort allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits, with three strikeouts, and three walks. David Hall pitched one inning of relief work allowing six runs on four hits with one strikeout and three walks. Luke Miller pitched two and one thirds innings of relief allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with two strikeouts, and one walk. CT Dodd pitched three innings fo relief and picked up the loss (0-1) allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts, and one walk. The Blazers had 14 hits during the contest with Kyle McLaughlin leading the team going 4-for-5 with a team-best four RBIs. Trip Benson accounted for three hits with one RBI, while Nathan Herron had two hits during the contest. Nick Lucido and Evan Moore had one hit and two RBIs apiece, while Hunter White, Julyan Urena, and Caleb Whittle had one hit each.

GAME TWO

The Blazers started their scoring with a pair of runs in the second inning as Evan Moore drew a lead-off walk and then stole second. Caleb Whittle later reached base by drawing a walk then Moore scored on a single by McLaughlin while Whittle later stole home plate to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead. The Blazers doubled their lead with another pair of runs in the fifth inning as Julyan Urena drew a walk to start the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on a triple by Nick Lucido. Lucido then scored on a single by Trip Benson giving the Blazers a 4-0 lead.

The Blazers added a solo run in the sixth inning as McLaughlin hit a lead-off triple and then later scored on a groundout by Urena increasing the lead to 5-0. The final five runs came in the seventh inning as Nathan Herron hit a triple to start the inning and then scored on an infield single by Moore. Reed Bolton followed that with a single and Moore then scored on a single by Whittle, while Bolton and Whittle later scored on a double by Hunter White. White then scored on a single by Urena giving the Blazers a 10-0 lead. The Celts got two baserunners on in the bottom of the seventh but back-to-back foul outs ended the inning and sealed the 10-0 win for the Blazers.

Brett Sanchez got the start for the Blazers and pitched his second complete game of the 2021 season in the winning effort improving to 5-0. Sanchez allowed only three hits in the shutout with six strikeouts, and one walk. The Blazers had 11 hits during the contest with Kyle McLaughlin having the only multi-hit game going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Hunter White, Julyan Urena, Nick Lucidon, Trip Benson, Adam Leonard, Nathan Herron, Evan Moore, and Caleb Whittle had one hit each. White and Urena had a team-best two RBIs each, with Lucido, Benson, Moore, and Whittle having one RBI apiece.

The Blazers are now 10-4 overall after the split and will finish their series against the Celts with a single game on Saturday, March 13, with the first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.

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