Mobile (10-18, 4-12) and Belhaven (22-6, 14-2) finish off the series with another 1 pm doubleheader Saturday at Mobile.

 

Wasted opportunities and defensive lapses victimized the Rams and starter Michael Clay in game one.

Michael Clay was the tough-luck loser, allowing only 1 earned run on 4 hits in 6 innings of work. The lefty struck out 2, walked none and needed only 57 pitches to complete his work.

 

Paul Faulkenberry picked up the win for Belhaven, working 5.2 innings of 5-hit, shutout ball. Wade Broyles got the save with 1.1 innings of perfect relief work.

 

The Rams actually out-hit Belhaven 5-4, led by Justin Beck's 2-3 performance at the plate, but Mobile left six runners on base.

 

Mobile tallied two hits in each of the first two innings, but a pickoff and double play ended those threats, while another pickoff in the 6th negated a pair of UM walks. All five of Mobile's hits came in the first three frames.

 

The Blazers struck first in the 2nd inning, while the Rams' dropped a foul ball to extend Brandon Benton's at-bat, and allow Benton to hit a 1-out double. He later scored on Kyle Feazell's base knock. Drew Dillard extended Belhaven's lead to 2-0 in the 3rd with a sac fly to plate Shawn Diehl, who singled, stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on an error.

 

Game two was all about the Belhaven bats, as the Blazers pounded out 16 hits and scored 5 runs in the 1st and 8 in the 3rd to roll to the 16-6 win. Timmy Foster finished 4-4 with 4 RBI, while Brandon Benton was 4-4 with 2 RBI. Jimmy Gilford went 2-2, Craig Dean drove in 3 and Paul Moreno added a 2-run home run for Belhaven.

 

Brad Sheffield and Cameron White each went 2-4 to pace the Rams at the plate. Brandt Hinton picked up the win for the Blazers by scattering 7 hits over 6 innings and giving up only 2 earned runs. Alan Butts took the loss for Mobile after giving up 11 runs in 2.2 innings of work.

 

In the five-run 1st, the inning started with a walk and a strikeout, and then the next four Belhaven batters hit for the cycle, with Foster tripling home two and Moreno providing a 2-run bomb.

 

After an uneventful 2nd, the wheels came off for Mobile in the 3rd, with Belhaven sending 13 hitters to the plate and tallying 8 runs on 7 hits. The first three hitters singled to set the tone, and then with 2 outs, six straight batters reached, forcing home the final six runs of the frame.

 

Mobile took advantage of three Belhaven errors in the bottom of the 3rd to plate four runs, but could not overcome the early deficit.