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Bruin Blitz 4/14-4/20

Men’s Tennis (11-10, 8-1 OVC)

OVC Championships

Days after claiming a share of the program’s first regular season title, the men’s tennis team fell 4-3 to Jacksonville State in the OVC Championship game on Saturday.

The Gamecocks earned the doubles point by posting wins in the number two and three spots after the Bruins picked up a win at number one.

In the single matches, Jacksonville State put together a early 2-0 lead. Mauricio Antun and Cedric Dujacquier tied the match with wins over Pedro Wagner and Dylan Gee respectively,

After the Gamecocks regained the lead, Marko Lovinovic defeated Jaryd Reese 6-4, 7-6 to tie the match at three apiece.

With the championship coming down to the final match of the day, Martijn Verberne won the first set 6-7 but fell in the final two sets to Felipe Wenzel, who claimed the title for the Gamecocks.

Belmont finished the season with an 11-10 record and went 8-1 in conference play, which resulted in the program’s first conference title.

Baseball (17-22, 8-10 OVC)

4/12 @Lipscomb

Traveling down the road to Ken Dugan Field, the baseball team came away victorious with a 2-1 win over rival Lipscomb.

After Scott Moses drew a walk with two outs in the third, Drew Ferguson sent a shot down the left field line for an RBI double to put the Bruins up 1-0. An RBI single from Matt Beaty brought in Ferguson to double Belmont’s lead.

Lipscomb cut the score in half in the bottom of the sixth behind a leadoff single from Nick Rome and RBI groundout from Drew Adams. However, it was the only offense the Bison could muster up as the Bruins pitching staff and defense sealed the win.

Chase Cunningham picked up the win on the mound for Belmont, striking out four batters in two innings pitched. Greg Brody earned his seventh save of the season.

4/17-4/19 v. Austin Peay

In a series against the defending OVC champion, Belmont loss the series to the Austin Peay Governors two games to one.

During the first game of the series, the Bruins’ offense couldn’t get anything going as the Governors earned the shutout victory 3-0 on Thursday.

Patrick McGrath went seven innings and gave up nine hits while the left-hander struck out four and did not allow a walk.

The Bruins attempted to bounce back the next day but their ninth inning rally fell short in a 3-2 loss on Friday.

After a double from Beaty, an RBI single by Jamie Ritchie gave Belmont the early lead in the first. Austin Peay responded the following inning and tied the game on a wild pitch. The Governors took over the lead with a two-run homer from PJ Torres in the seventh.

In the bottom of the ninth, back to back walks put two runners on base and a sacrifice fly from Nick Egli brought the Bruins within one. However, the game ended on a strikeout to give Austin Peay the series win.

In the series finale on Saturday, Belmont avoided the sweep with a 4-2 victory late behind a late inning rally.

After the Governors took a 2-0 lead, the Bruins offense put together a hot streak in the eighth inning. With the bases loaded, Belmont tied the game behind a two RBI single by Ferguson.

The Bruins regained the lead behind a RBI single from Alec Diamond and sacrifice fly from Beaty and would go onto win by the final score, 4-2.

Austin Coley struck out seven and allowed only four hits through 5.1 innings on the mound. Greg Brody earned his eighth save on the season.

Belmont returns to action on Tuesday to complete the Battle of the Boulevard series against rival Lipscomb.

Softball (12-29, 6-14 OVC)

4/18 v. Eastern Illinois

The softball team dropped a doubleheader 11-2, 3-1 against Eastern Illinois on Friday at Rose Park. The visiting Panthers hit four home runs in the first game while their pitching staff held the Bruins to only three hits in the shortened five-inning game.

Belmont’s two runs on the day came in the bottom of the first and second behind RBI singles from Jordan Daly and Carolyn Snodgress respectively.

Belmont attempted to bounce back in the second game of the day but couldn’t come up with the victory and fell in the second game 3-1. A RBI single from Jessica Wilson brought in Kayla Brown in the bottom of the third for the lone run scored by the Bruins.

4/19 v. SIU-Edwardsville

With both games decided by a combined total of three runs, Belmont dropped its fourth game in a row with a doubleheader loss to SIU-Edwardsville on Saturday.

After the Cougars took an early 2-0 lead, an RBI single from Snodgress brought across Heather Turner to cut the lead in half in the second inning.

SIU-Edwardsville double its lead in the sixth inning on an RBI fly from Rachel Coonrod. The Bruins responded again in the bottom of the inning behind Kirbie Ferrell, who brought in Kat Hollingsworth to pull Belmont within one.

After a Mia Vierra walk put the tying run on base, the Bruins couldn’t come up with the potential game-winning run and a double play by the Cougars defense sealed the win.

In the second game of the day, Belmont took an early lead in the first inning behind a RBI triple by Daly, her third of the season.

However, RBI singles helped SIU-Edwardsville regain the lead in the fifth inning and proved to be the game winner as the Cougars swept the Bruins on the day.

Belmont will travel to Jacksonville, Ala. for a three-game series with Jacksonville State on April 26.

Men’s Golf

4/14-4/15- TSU Big Blue Intercollegiate

Despite the cold weather on Tuesday, the men’s golf team placed third in the TSU Big Blue Intercollegiate. Belmont scored a team total 884 over the course of the two days to finish behind Southern Illinois and champion UT-Martin.

Sophomore Scott Barnhart and senior Ben Simpson both placed in the top-20. Barnhart shot an even-par 72 in the second round to card 220. Simpson tied for 16th place to earn his ninth top-20 finish in the 10 events this season.

The team will return to the course for the OVC Championship held on April 25-27 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Track and Field

4/18-4/19 Jesse Owens Track Classic @ Ohio State

In the Jesse Owens Track Classic held at Ohio State over the weekend, the Belmont track and field team had another strong out as several personal records were broken over the two days.

In day one of the classic, junior Austin Landis and freshman Stuart Landis both placed in the top-10 in the javelin event, finishing fourth and seventh respectively.

Hannah Wittman, Mara White and Jessie Wynn all set new personal records in the women’s 1500m event with Wittman placing 11th.

On the second and final day of the classic, junior Marcus Bridger-Wilkinson set a new personal record of 1:51.28 to finish third in the men’s 800m run. Sophomore Emily Davis also placed third in the 400m with a personal best 56.07.

In the high jump competition, senior Sarah Wrieden set a personal best 1.65 m (5’5”) to finish 11th.

The Bruins return to action May 2-3 at the OVC Outdoor Championships held in Edwardsville, Illinois.

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