Baseball Walks-Off UT Martin

The Bruins secured a dramatic 7-6 win over UT Martin Tuesday at E.S. Rose Park.

After a successful weekend when they beat Indiana State twice in their three-game series, they looked to continue their series win streak.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Lake Morris got the nod to start the first game of his collegiate career against the Skyhawks.

Belmont's defense pitched a three-up, three-down first inning against UT Martin to start things off.

The first inning remained scoreless, and the next two innings would show the same result: zeroes on the board. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, right fielder Ty Allen sent a ball to right field, getting him to first base to start the Bruins offensive turn. 

Catcher Landon Godsey smacked the ball and doubled down the line in left field; Allen ran all the way home to get the Bruins their first run of the game and take the 1-0 lead.

First baseman Jake Maddox stepped into the batter's box and made immediate contact with the first pitch, singling and getting Godsey home for an RBI. 

Center fielder Michael Lareau flew a ball to the outfield, but Maddox was able to get home; the Bruins ended the fourth inning up 3-0.

The Skyhawks would not answer until the top of the sixth.

With the bases loaded, Skyhawk first baseman Blaze Bell doubled, bringing home two teammates. 

The scoring did not stop there as infielder Jonah Katsaboulas flew out, batting in

Infielder Arderrius Townsend.

Skyhawk Catcher Frank Micallef cracked a ball to left field batting in Bell.

Just like that, UT Martin had taken a 4-3 lead, though the Skyhawks were not finished scoring. 

Zach Hernandez then swapped in for Van Ness. 

No matter who was throwing at the UT Martin batters, they played the same way, scoring two more runs under Hernandez's direction, adding to the lead, making the game 6-3.

After two strikeouts to open the bottom of the sixth, third baseman Kaden Galason was hit by a pitch from right-handed pitcher Kaleb Baskin, sparking chatter in the dugout. 

Lareau then doubled a ball to left field and batted in Galason to shrink the deficit to 6-4. 

Daniel followed Lareau and hit a ball to center field, bringing his teammate in to make the score 6-5. 

Right-handed pitcher Logan Brock went onto the mound in the top of the seventh, striking out the first batter, and the Skyhawks were three up and three down.

The eighth inning began very productive for the Bruins, with Lareau and Daniel getting on base to start.

Davis followed up by reaching first on a fielder's choice and batting in Lareau to tie the game 6-6, and that's how the score remained at the end of the inning. 

Designated hitter Wyatt Fooks started the ninth inning for the Bruins on the bats, though they got the first out by popping up the ball and falling into the glove of a Skyhawk.  

Galason got a single to get momentum swinging the Bruins' way in the bottom of the ninth.

Lareau got hit by a pitch, walking him to first base.

The pitches thrown to Daniel were not good enough to make good contact with, and he was walked to first base.

Davis stepped up the plate with the bases loaded.

After fighting in the batter's box, Davis hit a ball out to center field, batting in Galason for the walk-off finish. The Bruins would win 7-6.

"We were good enough and fortunate enough to come from behind, tie the game up with a lot of clutch performances, and then push the run across where we needed to," said Coach Dave Jarvis. 

The Bruins set a season-high of nine stolen bases in the game against UT Martin. 

Belmont's victory over UT Martin brings its record to 14-20 and puts the team on a three-game win streak.

The Bruins will play North Alabama on the road Wednesday.