JACKSON, Miss.- Unable to respond to a late run at the bottom of the ninth inning, the East Texas Baptist University baseball team fell to Belhaven University, 7-6, on Thursday night on the road. After the loss, ETBU drops to 13-12 overall and 5-8 in American Southwest Conference play.
Dylan Singletary had a solid performance for ETBU, collecting two runs on two hits in four at-bats in the ballgame.
Zach Gartner tallied one run on two hits in five appearances in the batter's box.
Seth Mikeska turned in a stellar defensive performance on the night, recording 12 putouts on the game. Jonathan Sylvester added a double, a single and a run on four hits in four at-bats. On the mound for the Tigers,
Blake Corbin pitched in five innings and racked up seven hits, four runs and two strike outs.
ETBU recorded their first run of the ballgame at the top of the third inning. A walk would put Singletary on first base, paving the way for Gartner to step up to the plate. Gartner singled out to center field, advancing Singletary to second base. A fly by Mikeska would put Singletary on third, followed by a sacrifice fly by
Casey Combs that would finally send Singletary to home plate for the game's first run (1-0).
But the home team would have a response at the bottom of the third, racking up three runs to take the lead 3-1 heading into the top of the fourth. A pair of doubles by Sylvester and Zach McAdams would lead to two more runs tacked on by the Tigers, knotting up the score at 3-3.
A fielder's choice would send
Landen Barns to first base, putting Combs out at the top of the fifth. Over the next several sequences, a single by Sylvester would advance
Mason Aldredge to second base and score Barns to give the Tigers the 4-3 lead.
BU would add two runs over the next two innings to regain the lead at 5-4. ETBU would score two runs by Gartner and Singletary at the bottom of the eighth to go on top 6-5 heading down the stretch. The Blazers would tie the ballgame at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth, and would go on to take the lead in the final frame before coming away with the 7-6 home win.
The Tigers will return to Smith-Wills stadium for a double-header on Friday, March 30. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
