PEARL, Miss. - The Belhaven Baseball team pulled in their first win of the season on Tuesday when a two-run 7th inning sent them past rivals Millsaps, 4-3, in the first matchup of the 2023 Maloney Series.
The visitors were the ones who got the early momentum as Belhaven started their defense of the Cowboy Maloney Series trophy. Belhaven, who has won eight straight against their crosstown rivals, found themselves down early to the Majors who scored to open the first inning.
Millsaps added a second run in the 3rd inning as the Belhaven bats struggled to get going. The Blazers would get a run back in the same frame after
Dawson Albin doubled and
Nathan Herron's base hit scored him from second.
The Majors would take their lead back to two runs though with a single run in the 5th inning leaving Belhaven work to do in the second half of the game. The Blazers would get back within one when
Hunter Estes delivered a pinch-hit, two-out single that scored
Matthew Charbonnet from third base.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the 7th, Belhaven would find themselves in the lead for the first time as
Dawson Albin produced a sacrifice fly that scored
Kyle McLaughlin before a passed ball allowed
Nick Lucido to score the go ahead run.
The Blazers' would then slam the door shut in the final two frames as
Jacob Doyle and
Brett Sanchez combined to keep Millsaps off the board giving Belhaven an important first win of the year.
BELHAVEN PITCHERS
Luke Miller: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K
Logan Goodreau: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER
Riley Weber: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 K
Jacob Doyle (W, 1-0): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 K
Brett Sanchez (S, 1): 1.0 IP, 1 K
BELHAVEN LEADERS
Kyle McLaughlin: 0-1, 3 BB, 1 R
Nick Lucido: 1-2, 2 BB, 1 R
Dawson Albin: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 R
Hunter Estes: 1-1, RBI
Belhaven will now prepare to travel to Houston, Texas where they'll square off in a three-game set against the University of St. Thomas. The series opener is set for Thursday with first pitch schedule for 6 PM.
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