Belmont baseball holds onto the Boulevard

Belmont grew its win streak Wednesday, blowing down Lipscomb in the season’s first Battle of the Boulevard.

Standing on an 8-1 record and receiving four votes in the USA Today baseball coaches poll Monday, the Belmont baseball team played its first road game of the season at nearby Ken Dugan Field.

The Bruins defeated the Bisons 5-1 to extend their runaway victory streak to nine, marking the team’s longest since 2015.

The battle began in red-hot fashion for the Bruins as sophomore first baseman Brodey Heaton blasted a one-pitch solo home run over the left-center fence to put Belmont up 1-0 in top of the first.

Freshman Jordan Zuger started on the mound for the Bruins. He worked his way out of trouble in the bottom of the inning as the Bisons left runners on second and third with no runs scored.

The Belmont offense picked up where it left off in the second inning as junior second baseman Jack Capobianco delivered an RBI single, driving in junior Carson Shacklett to extend the Bruin lead 2-0.

The inning wasn’t finished, however, as sophomore outfielder Guy Lipscomb batted in senior catcher Jackson Campbell, bringing the score to 3-0.

After another impressive inning from Zuger, who only allowed one hit and recorded a strikeout, the Bruins looked to make it three straight scoring innings.

They accomplished this mission as junior shortstop Grayson Taylor sent a hard hit line drive into left field for senior Logan Jarvis to roll in on home base, furthering the Belmont lead to 4-0.

The bottom of the third saw a new Bruin pitcher on the mound, sophomore Lane Lamberth, who pitched a quick, effective inning consisting of a double play at first and a strikeout.

Lamberth also recorded two strikeouts in the bottom of the fourth, along with an impressive throwdown from Campbell to tag the stealing runner out.

Campbell continued his defensive dominance in the bottom of the fifth, recording another throwout at second.

The Bruin bats came alive again in the top of the sixth as Taylor knocked a home run over the left-field fence, making the score 5-0.

From there, junior pitcher Aaron Hubbell manned the mound for two innings, recording a strikeout and allowing no runs.

Graduate student Dusty Baird entered on the mound in the eighth as Campbell threw out a stealing runner at second yet again, his third throwout of the game.

With a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Belmont looked to finish the game out in style as freshman pitcher Caleb Guisewite came in to close for the Bruins.

After loading the bases with one out, Guisewite was taken out and replaced with senior Kyle Brennan.

Brennan managed to strike out a batter, but he balked, allowing a Lipscomb runner to score by error.

The game ended in a Lipscomb glove, which caught the final out in center field.

Regardless, Belmont brought home a 5-1 win to further its overall record to 9-1.

In its first 10 contests, Belmont has outscored opponents 47-10 and holds four shutouts.

The Bruins now look to continue their momentum heading back home Friday through Sunday to face off in a three-game series against the University of Dayton.

___

PHOTO: No. 23 Jordan Zuger on the mound for the Bruins at Wednesday’s away game versus Lipscomb. Jessica Mattsson / Belmont Vision

This article was written by A.J. Wuest.

#Baseball202122 #BattleoftheBoulevard #lipscombuniversity