CLINTON, Miss. - Belhaven Baseball finished off their second CCS sweep in as many weekends as they took down Piedmont 4-1 in the final game of their three-game series. Brett Sanchez led the way for the Blazers as the right-hander struck out a career-high 15 batters en route to the conference victory.

After Sanchez picked up three strikeouts in the top of the 1st inning the Belhaven bats got the Blazers on the board early with Matthew Charbonnet grabbing a single on the first pitch of the inning before Caleb Whittle followed up with a double.

With runners in scoring position the Blazers picked up two runs, the first on an RBI by Hunter Estes and the second coming on a base hit by Nick Lucido. Following that two-run frame offense was hard to come by for both teams.

As the game became a pitcher's duel, Brett Sanchez continued to keep the Lions off the board while striking out nine hitters through the first four innings. Piedmont was able to manufacture a run in the top of the 5th and cut the Belhaven lead down to 2-1 but an important strike out and caught-stealing attempt ended the inning.

With zeroes on the board for both clubs in the next two frames, Belhaven headed to the bottom of the 8th looking for crucial insurance runs. The Blazers importantly doubled their lead in the 8th when Preston Conlee delivered a sac fly for the first run before a Nathan Herron RBI single added the second.

Sanchez was able to polish off the complete game as he got the Lions to go in order with the final out coming on a pop-up to Dawson Albin at shortstop. With his 15 strikeout performance Sanchez has now moved into 2nd all-time in career strikeouts and sits just five away from becoming the program's all-time leader.

With the win the Blazers have now won their 10th straight game and improved to 13-9 overall on the year. With the second series sweep to open the conference slate, Belhaven also improved to 6-0 in CCS action.

BELHAVEN PITCHERS

Brett Sanchez (W, 3-1): 9.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 15 K

BELHAVEN HITTING LEADERS

Caleb Whittle: 3-4, 2B, R
Nick Lucido: 2-4, RBI
Nathan Herron: 1-4, RBI

The Blazers return to action on Tuesday when they face Millsaps in the final game of the 2023 Cowboy Maloney Series with the trophy on the line as the season series stands at 1-1. First pitch at Millsaps is set for 6:00 PM.

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