MILLINGTON. Tenn. - The Belhaven Baseball team picked up two four-run wins in their opening day of the Rhodes Tournament in Millington. The Blazers defeated North Park 6-2 before taking down the University of the Ozarks 9-5.

GAME ONE

North Park found the scoreboard first thanks to an two-run single in the opening frame, but Belhaven answered with a four-spot in the home half to take control early.

RBI singles from Nick Lucido, Hunter Estes, and Nathan Herron and a sacrifice fly from Preston Conlee gave the Blazers a 4-2 advantage after an inning of play. A 3rd inning sacrifice fly from Matthew Charbonnet extended the lead to 5-2.

Later in the inning, a fielding error allowed a sixth Belhaven run to cross the plate. The pitching duo of Harris Coleman and Joshua Thomas held the Vikings scoreless over the final eight innings as the Blazers cruised to a 6-2 win in their first game of the afternoon.

BELHAVEN PITCHERS

Harris Coleman: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 K, 1 BB
Joshua Thomas: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K

BELHAVEN BATTING LEADERS

Preston Conlee: 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, R
Nick Lucido: 1-3, RBI, R
Hunter Estes: 1-3, RBI, R

GAME TWO

As the designated visiting team in Game No. 2 on the day, Belhaven got straight to work as Hunter Estes drove in Matthew Charbonnet to put the Blazers in front. Belhaven pushed two more across in the inning courtesy of an Eagle error to take a 3-0 lead.

Charbonnet delivered an RBI triple the following inning as the Blazers were able to extend the lead with Brett Sanchez keeping the opposing bats at bay. Two more Blazers came home to score in the 6th to stretch things out to 6-0 heading into the later innings. After a leadoff triple from Preston Conlee, Dawson Albin smashed an RBI single through the left side to put Belhaven up 7-0.

The Eagles put a pair of runs on the board in the 8th, but Albin answered with a two-run single in the top of the 9th to extend the margin back to seven. Ozarks was able to push three home in the final frame but it was not nearly enough as the Blazers captured a 9-5 win over the Eagles.

BELHAVEN PITCHERS

Brett Sanchez (W, 1-1): 7.0 IP, 1 H, 9 K, 1 BB
Colton Sylvester: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 1 K, 1 BB

BELHAVEN HITTING LEADERS

Matthew Charbonnet: 2-3, 3B, RBI, 2 BB, R
Dawson Albin: 2-5, 3 RBI
Preston Conlee: 3-5, 3B, 2B, 2 R
Hunter Estes: 3-5, RBI, 2 R

The Blazers are set to play Westfield State and Alfred State on Monday, March 13th to conclude their time in Millington. First pitch against the Owls of Westfield State is set for 11:00 AM.

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