Box Score |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont took an early lead against Eastern Illinois in game two of their series and would not surrender their advantage the rest of the game as the Bruins picked up a 8-3 win over the Panthers on Friday.
Eastern Illinois dropped to 7-27 (3-11 OVC), while Belmont improved to 16-17 (11-6 OVC).
Alex Ward got the Belmont offense going in the bottom of the second inning with a lead-off single. After a wild pitch moved the Belmont runner up to second, Ward came home to score on an RBI single from Kyle Conger and put the Bruins ahead, 1-0.
Belmont added to their total in the bottom of the third inning. A single from Rafael Bournigal followed by a walk from Nick Egli put runners at first and second for the Bruins. Matt Cogen knocked a seeing-eye single through the right side of the EIU infield to plate Bournigal and extended the Belmont lead to 2-0.
Dougie Parks pulled EIU within one at 2-1 with a one-out solo home run that just cleared the wall in left in the top of the fourth inning. Belmont responded right back in the bottom-half of the inning with three runs and moved the score to 5-1 in favor of the Bruins.
The Panthers found their groove once again in the top of the seventh as Eastern Illinois rolled off three-straight hits to start the inning.
Josh Turnock got things started with a lead-off double and quickly came around to score on an RBI double off the bat of
Frankie Perrone.
Hunter Beetley followed the Perrone double with a double of his own to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Belmont took advantage of a pair of EIU errors in the bottom of the seventh and scored a run to increase their margin to three at 6-3. The Bruins scored the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch and a solo home run from Egli.
Parks had a solid game at the plate as he finished 2-for-4 at the dish with one RBI and one run scored.
Brendon Allen started the game on the mound for the Panthers and took the loss as he allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings pitched.
Eastern Illinois and Belmont will finish their series on Saturday with first pitch set to be thrown at 1 p.m.
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