NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont did the majority of its scoring in the first four innings Saturday at E.S. Rose Park on the way to claiming a 6-3 win and the series from Missouri State.
The Bruins (24-26, 11-12 Missouri Valley Conference) brought around a leadoff double to score in the first inning, Dylan Leach tied it with his 15th home run of the season in the second, and Belmont took the lead for good on a two-out solo homer in the bottom of the second.
Belmont grew its lead to 5-1 in the fourth on a combination of a hit batter, walk, two singles, a stolen base and an error, and the Bears (19-31, 8-15) got one back in the sixth when Zack Stewart was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The home team added a solo homer in the sixth to make it 6-2, and Nick Rodriguez smacked his 10th round-tripper of the season in the eighth for the 6-3 final.
Rodriguez’s home run extended his reached safely streak to 31 games, the longest at MSU since Jeremy Eierman did so in 33 consecutive games in 2017. It was also the Bears’ 96th long ball of the season, tying the 1998 club for the fourth-highest total in school history.
Taeg Gollert and Leach each recorded two-hit days for the offense, with Gollert hitting his 17th double of the year.
Kaleb Thomas (3-3) went a career-long 5.1 innings in the start. Jake Syverson (1.2) and Garrett Ferguson (1.0) finished the game out of the bullpen and combined to retire all eight batters they faced.
The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday.
