Johnson City, TENN. – The Bruins used a season-high 17 runs to earn a series victory over East Tennessee State in the two teams’ final game on Sunday at Cardinal Park in Johnson City, Tenn. with a 17-11 win.

The Bruins improved to 15-24 overall and 11-13 in the Atlantic Sun while the loss drops ETSU to 11-29 and 8-16 in the A-Sun.

Freshman Nate Woods (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) started the game for Belmont and went six full innings for the win. He (2-2) while giving up seven earned runs on ten hits with nine hits and five strikeouts.

Junior Jimmy Stanley (Lexington, Ky.) pitched the final two innings of the contest for his second save of the season.

The Bruins started the scoring with a two-run homerun to right center by junior Brandon McCall (Spring Hill, Tenn.), his third of the season. Sophomore Packy Elkins (Raleigh, N.C.) was on base for the homerun after drawing a walk and received credit for a run scored.

ETSU took the lead in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run homerun to left field by Paul Hoilman.

Belmont tied the game, 3-3, in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly to left field by freshman Derek Hamblen (Plano, Texas) scoring fellow freshman Bryan Taylor (Centertown, Ky.).

The Bucs retook the lead on a solo home run to left field by Nick Belcher in the bottom of the second inning. An RBI single to right field by Mendez scored Chris Rankhorn to make the score 5-3 in favor of ETSU. The Bucs continued the offensive pressure with a two-run homerun to left field by Anthony Russell which also scored Mendez to take the 7-3 lead.

Belmont scored three runs in the top of the third inning to make the score 7-6 in favor of ETSU. The highlight of the inning was a sacrifice fly to right field by freshman Matt Zeblo (Raleigh, N.C.) scoring sophomore Daniel Wagner (China Grove, N.C.).

The Bruins tied the score, 7-7, in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly to left field by McCall scoring Hamblen.

Belmont took the lead 8-7 in the top of the fifth inning on a groundout to the shortstop by Taylor which scored Wagner. The Bruins plated two more runs in the inning on a two-RBI double down the left field line by Hamblen, scoring Zeblo and sophomore Ryan Kincherlow (Antioch, Tenn.).

The Bruins scored an additional run in the top of the sixth inning on a triple to right center by junior Derek Wiley (Dublin, Calif.) which scored junior Carlo Testa (Tallmadge, Ohio). Wagner’s single to center field scored Wiley to make the score 12-7 in favor of Belmont.

ETSU mounted a comeback in the bottom of the sixth inning on a three-run hoe run to left center by Hoilman to make the score 12-10.

The Bruins scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning to increase their lead. The first run came on a single to right center by Zeblo which scored Woods. The next run came on a double to right field by Elkins which scored Zeblo. McCall’s double to left center scored Elkins. Testa also hit his second home run of the season to left field to make the score 17-10 in favor of the Bruins.

Matt McGahey started the game for ETSU and gave up seven runs, three earned, on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks over four full innings.

Elkins increased his career-long hitting streak to 13 games in the contest.

The Bruins will return to action against Tennessee Tech on Apr. 22 at Greer Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. starting at 6 p.m.