NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont's Hagan Severance belted a one-out, walk-off home run to plate the only run of an 11-inning, 1-0 victory over Missouri State Friday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park.
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Missouri State's Logan Wiley turned in his second straight shutout performance in as many starts this season, striking out seven Bruins over the first eight innings. Sophomore reliever Trey Ziegenbein (0-1) was equally as impressive over 2 1/3 innings, fanning five of the first seven batters he faced.
But Severance laid into a 2-0 Ziegenbein offering and drove his first homer of the season over the left-field wall for the game winner that capped a 2-for-5 day at the plate. Belmont (4-2) enjoyed solid pitching of its own, with starter Joshua South scattering seven hits over his 8.0 scoreless frames, before Chandler Schultz and Kyle Brennan (1-0) kept the Bears at bay by working out of tight spots in two of the final three innings.
The Bears (3-2), who out-hit the Bruins by a 11-6 margin, engineered several scoring opportunities late in the contest, but failed to produce any runs while leaving a total of seven runners in scoring position over the last six innings. Singles by Ben Whetstone and Greg Ziegler, plus a South wild pitch put both runners in scoring position in the seventh. But John Privitera flew out to center to end the threat. Jack Duffy singled and stole second the following frame, but a strikeout and a grounder to third squashed that MSU threat as well.
After Brennan worked out of a ninth-inning jam with another ground ball and retired the side in order in the 10th, the Bears generated their best scoring chance in the top of the 11th. With two out, Whetstone drew a walk and Mason Hull doubled to left, forcing an intentional pass to Ziegler. But Privitera's chopper to short caromed off the leg of Hull for the final out of the inning.
Wiley, who earned the 1-0 opening day win for the Bears at UCA last Friday, had to settle for the no-decision, despite limiting Belmont to five hits and a pair of walks. For the season, the senior right-hander has yet to allow a run in his 15.0 innings, but has enjoyed just one run of support in the two games combined.
Whetstone snapped a dry spell at the plate with a 2-for-4 day, while Ziegler (2-for-3) added his third-straight two-hit game while reaching safely in four of his five total trips to the plate.
The Bears will attempt to bounce back Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest against Lipscomb in Nashville, before concluding the weekend at Middle Tennessee Sunday (1 p.m.) in Murfreesboro.
