March 25, 2008

JACKSON – Junior right-hander Joe Diecidue tossed 7.2 innings and struck out four to hold 23rd-ranked Millsaps in check from the plate and seven fellow Blazers posted multiple hits as Belhaven hoisted the Cowboy Maloney Trophy for the first time since 2005 in a 16-10 win Tuesday night at Twenty Field.

Belhaven (25-10), now winners of 19 of its last 21 overall, had nine different players record a hit off seven different Millsaps pitchers as the staff surrendered a season-high 22 hits and the most since March 25, 2004, when Huntingdon cranked out 18 hits.

Millsaps (16-8) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead through the first two innings on a pair of sac flies from Hunter Abrams and Jeremy Aliff before Belhaven came storming back with 12 unanswered runs over the subsequent five innings to take an insurmountable 12-2 lead that the Majors could not overcome.

The Majors got to within 13-7 after rallying for a run in the seventh and three runs in the eighth, using freshman Jason Riggins' first career home run, followed by a homer from senior Joe Blades and RBIs from Riggins and Billy Murphy an inning later.

Belhaven, however, responded right back with three runs in its half of the ninth to push the lead back out to nine at 16-7, taking advantage of a Shawn Anderson RBI-double and a two-RBI single from designated hitter Joe Scalzo.

Millsaps put together one last rally in the bottom of the ninth to make things interesting, rocking Blazers relief pitcher Kyle Medley with four runs off four hits.

After Hunter Owen reached base by way of an infield error, senior Derrik Boland sent a bomb over the rightfield fence for his fifth home run of the year to score Owen, while a Ronnie Wheat RBI-double and Russ Boyd RBI-single scored the final two runs to make the score 16-10 in favor of the visiting Blazers.

Diecidue picked up the win on the hill for Belhaven to move his season record to 6-1, while Tait Hendrix was hit with the loss for Millsaps after surrendering five runs over 4.2 innings.

Offensively for the Blazers, Reg Ott went 4-for-6 from the plate with three RBIs, followed by Bryan Bennett (3-for-6, three RBIs) and Scalzo (3-for-4, three RBIs). Millsaps was led by Riggins, Blades, Boyd and Quinn Salmon who each picked up a pair of hits, while freshman Josh Ordeneaux extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the eighth over the outstretched arm of the first baseman.

The Majors will continue a 12-game homestand this weekend, welcoming SCAC foe Southwestern University to town for a 4-game series. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Twenty Field. Three of the four games (Game 2 only on Saturday) can be heard on Jackson's ESPN Radio 1240 AM and online at www.espnradio1240.com.