The Belmont baseball team was unable to obtain its second sweep of the season, falling short 7-3 to Eastern Illinois University in the final game of the three-game series Saturday.
The Bruins came out strong in game one with right-handed junior, Tyler Vaughn, pitching the entire game. Vaughn finished the game with six strikeouts, a pair of walks and a run of his own. Game one concluded with a final score of 10-1 for the Bruins.
Game two was another strong one for the Bruins. Three veterans, senior Nick Egli and juniors Rafael Bournigal and Kyle Conger, accounted for half of the runs, collecting multiple hits throughout the game and leading the team to a 8-3 win over Eastern Illinois.
After dominating the first two games against the Panthers, the Bruins failed to lead in game three, finishing the weekend with a 7-3 loss.
Senior Tyler Walsh managed to steal his 55th base in his four-year career to move to second all-time in stolen bases in program history. This helped the Bruins to a 3-3 tie after falling behind in the fourth inning.
Unfortunately, it was not enough to relieve the pressure off the Bruins as the Panthers registered three different home runs to end the game in the ninth inning.
Senior Nick Egli had a perfect weekend at the plate, going 11 for 11 at bat against the Panthers. With two home runs this weekend, Egli leads in home runs for the Bruins, having eight for the season.
The Bruins will return to E.S. Rose Park on April 28 to face Murray State. First pitch is at 5 p.m.
Article and photos by Carina Eudy.