EDWARDSVILLE – Belmont swept a doubleheader from SIUE baseball winning 6-5 and 12-0 Saturday at Simmons Baseball Complex.
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SIUE fell to 5-23 overall and 3-12 in Ohio Valley Conference play with the loss. Belmont improved to 18-13 overall and 8-4 in the OVC.
Belmont built a 4-0 lead in the opener, before SIUE forged a comeback. Jacob Stewart led off the fifth inning with his first home run of the year and Alec Skender added a sacrifice fly in the inning to cut the lead in half. Skyler Geissinger singled to drive home Dustin Woodcock in the sixth to make it 4-3 before Belmont added two runs in the eighth.
Trailing 6-3 going into the ninth inning, SIUE scored twice on three hits and a pair of walks. Dustin Woodcock picked up an RBI with a bases-loaded walk. Geissinger singled to drive in a run. The Cougars stranded the bases loaded in the ninth and left 10 on base for the game despite outhitting the Bruins.
"Up and down the lineup we took quality at-bats," SIUE Assistant Coach Danny Jackson said. "We had a chance to win the game in the ninth inning. It just didn't happen for us. That's baseball. I'm proud of the way the guys battled."
The Cougars finished with 10 hits in the opener. Geissinger was 3 for 5 with a pair of RBIs. Skender had two hits.
"Skyler has been making a couple of adjustments with his swing," Jackson said. "It was nice to see him get rewarded for making those adjustments."
Belmont starter Austin Krezeminski improved to 3-1 with the win. He allowed three runs over five innings. SIUE starter Jarrett Bednar allowed four runs in five innings and fell to 0-7 with the loss.
SIUE reliever Michael Shereyk tossed four innings in relief allowing two runs while striking out four.
"Mike Shereyek pitched really well in relief in game one," Jackson added. "He was locating his fastball and he did a great job of keeping us in the game, and giving us a chance to win."
The Bruins opened game two with four consecutive hits against SIUE starter Conner Buenger. Belmont designated hitter Clay Payne capped the inning with a three-run home run to left to make it 4-0 Bruins after an inning. Belmont added six runs in the fifth inning against Buenger and reliever Ryan Agnitsch.
Buenger fell to 0-6 with the loss. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits over four-plus innings. He struck out three.
"It is very hard to clear a loss like that and then get ready to go play the next game," Jackson said. "It was hard. It was kind of a letdown and we weren't as energetic and enthusiastic in the second game as we were in the first."
Meanwhile, Belmont righthander Tyler Vaughn (4-1) allowed just six hits while throwing a complete-game shutout. He did not walk a batter, struck out seven and used just 77 pitches to complete the win.
"Vaughn was really good," Jackson said. "He pounded the strike zone and his breaking ball is a plus-plus pitch. It's tough to face a guy like that after an emotional letdown in the first game. He did his job and kept us off-balance."
Payne was 2 for 4 for the Bruins in the finale with four RBIs. First baseman Chas Hadden was 3 for 4. Rightfielder Brennan Washington was 2 for 2 with a pair of RBIs.
Keaton Wright was 2 for 4 in game two and had three hits for the day to extend his hitting streak to season-long 14 games. He is hitting .398 for the season and leads the OVC.
SIUE returns to the road for a Tuesday game at Saint Louis. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Billiken Sports Complex.
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