Baseball Topped by Hilltoppers

First Horizon Park after the game. (Reece Leddy)

The most common sound at First Horizon Park Wednesday night was not the cracks of Bruin bats, but rather the PA announcer calling out another pitching change.

Belmont baseball lost 7-2 to Western Kentucky in the home of the Nashville Sounds: First Horizon Park.

The game started out with graduate pitcher Sam Heyman on the mound. The former Southeast Missouri Redhawk got off to a rocky start, hitting three batters and only striking out one.

It took two Hilltopper runners to get to home plate for Heyman to get swapped out for sophomore left-handed pitcher Andrew Perry before the end of the first inning.

“We would have liked Sam to go out and maybe give us a couple of innings tonight, but he didn't earn it,” said head coach Dave Jarvis.

Heyman recorded just two outs facing six batters. Perry closed out the inning with a strikeout.

With the Hilltoppers up 2-0 early, second basemen Charlie Davis at the top of the order smashed a ball flying to right field.

Hilltopper right fielder Ethan Reynolds had the ball fall into his glove right before he ran into the back wall causing it to leak out of his possession and award Davis with a triple.

Despite the bases being loaded, the Bruins could not bring any of their men home with left fielder Brady Holbrook striking out to end the inning.

Perry started the second inning with a strikeout followed by a left field flyout but momentum shifted when Hilltopper Austin Haller got walked to first base.

During Catcher Camden Ross’s batting stint, Haller was able to steal second and third base, Camden also came across four balls to send him to first.

Lane Arroyos stepped up to the plate and sent a ball out of the field, bringing in all Hilltopper runners to rack up the score 5-0.

After walking infielder Kyle Hayes, Perry was relieved of his duties.

Right-handed pitcher Cole Kenyon, now the third pitcher of the day, closed out the top of the second with a strikeout.

Home plate got cold in the next three innings while the mound stayed warm but unfaithful with six pitching changes between both teams.

Haller and Ross got two back-to-back hits off of Jonathan Van Ness, the fifth pitcher in rotation in the sixth inning.

Haller was batted in by Hayes and Ross would get home off of a passed ball.

Belmont still had no answers for Western Kentucky with a three-up and three-down inning.

The bottom of the seventh saw Belmont finally get a run on the board after a passed ball got catcher Mike Sprockett to be the first Bruin to score.

The following inning had Mike Sprockett send a ball to center field bringing in shortstop Cavan McMeans for Belmont’s final run of the game.

Western Kentucky turned out on top defeating the Bruins 7-2 and saw 18 pitching changes across both teams.

“I think we're capable of being a really good defensive ball club, but we haven't played consistently,” Jarvis said, “A part of that is due to pitchers constantly pitching behind in the count and walking too many people…it's all going to have to start on the mound.” 

Despite some of the poor performances from the pitching staff Jarvis credited right handed pitchers Brooks McDonnough, Aubrey Moraitakis and left handed pitcher Krish Gandhi with their performances.  

The Bruins will head to Normal, Illinois to face the Illinois State Redbirds for their first conference matchup of the season.

Written by Reece Leddy