FINAL STATS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite two pitchers sitting down 11 Belmont batters on strikeouts, Morehead State baseball came up short in the late innings and fell to Belmont 4-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference opener Friday at Rose Park.

The Eagles, who dropped their second straight one-run decision, fell to 9-3 overall. The Bruins are now 6-7.

Starter Dalton Stambaugh whiffed nine Belmont batters, while reliever Jake Ziegelmeyer sat down two, but Belmont got the eventual winning runs in the seventh inning off Ziegelmeyer after a wild pitch and a two-run single by third baseman Chandler Adkins. Stambaugh (2-1) absorbed the tough loss.

"I thought Dalton pitched well and was a tough luck loser today," said head coach Mike McGuire. "We just struck out too many times also (11), but (Belmont's) (Casey) Queener we knew is a good pitcher."

MSU fell behind 2-0 but crept back and took the lead (3-2) in the fifth. Ryan Layne's sac fly scored the first run in the third, and Jake Hammon's RBI double tied the game at two in the fifth. An RBI ground by Trevor Snyder pushed the Eagles ahead 3-2.

Of the Eagles' 12 hits, Connor Pauly had three and also extended his reached-base streak to 41 games. That's the second longest streak in program history, tying current assistant coach Kane Sweeney.

Hammon had two hits and upped his reached base streak to 34 games. Stephen Hill and Hunter Fain each also had two hits.

The teams will play game two in the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.