Nashville Standard

Fresh off matching the program-record for wins and securing the OVC regular season championship, 21 returning and new members of the Belmont University baseball team competed for collegiate wood-bat leagues across the country this past summer, helping lead their squads to championships and earning individual accolades in the process. 

Nearby in Hendersonville, junior Drew Lowry and freshman Will Pryor helped guide the Full Count Rhythm to an Ohio Valley League title, going 35-11 overall and a perfect 6-0 in the playoffs. Pyror appeared in 10 games out of the bullpen, going 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 12.0 innings. Lowry played in 25 games and hit .343 with a home run, 17 RBIs, 23 runs, and 16 stolen bases.  

Up in Maryland, sophomores Ethan Harden and Caleb Guisewite competed for the Gaithersburg Giants of the Cal Ripken League. Guisewite led the Cal Ripken League in wins, going 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA in 11 appearances. The right-hander collected 40 strikeouts in 33.1 innings on the mound, allowing just 22 hits and securing one save. Harden played both ways for the Giants, tossing 11.0 innings on the hill and finishing with a 0.81 ERA, picking up 18 strikeouts to just four walks. At the plate, Harden hit .235 with a couple of home runs and 10 RBIs. Additionally, he stole ten bases and drew 16 walks while striking out only 13 times. 

In the Coastal Plain League, junior Mason Landers led the Wilmington Sharks in batting, finishing the summer with a scorching .324 average in 40 games, good for the eighth-best mark in the CPL. Landers also hit three homers and drove in 23 runs while knocking eight doubles. The infielder ended the season with a .402 on-base percentage and a .441 slugging clip. Senior Aaron Hubbell appeared in nine games on the mound, starting three, tossing 26.0 innings and finishing with 28 strikeouts. 

Incoming Holy Cross transfer Sam Kirkpatrick was named a Northwoods League All-Star for the Kalamazoo Growlers, where he slashed .276/.383/.322 with a home run and 27 RBIs in 39 games. The shortstop also collected eight multi-hit games for the Growlers. 

In Indiana, incoming transfer Max Jones was named to the All-College Summer League at Grand Park Defensive Team for his performance at third base throughout the summer. Elsewhere in the same league, freshman Dalton Wasson helped power the Birdies Bag Bandits to the CSL Championship.

In Missouri, incoming transfer Jackson Jarvis and sophomores Blake Barton and Jordan Zuger played for the Cape Girardeau Catfish in the Prospect League. Barton starred at catcher for the Catfish, hitting .328 with a pair of home runs and 18 RBIs in 35 games, also scoring 27 runs to go along with six stolen bases. Additionally, the backstop also threw out eight runners behind the dish and committed just one error on the season. Zuger started eight games on the mound and tossed 37.2 innings, collecting 41 strikeouts in the process. Jarvis, an infielder, appeared in 19 games for Cape Girardeau, driving in four runs and drawing nine walks. 

Another incoming transfer, Sam Slaughter, also tore up the Ohio Valley League, batting .316 with three home runs and 23 RBIs in 31 games for the Franklin Duelers. The outfielder ranked 9th in the OVL in walks (25), 7th in doubles (9), 6th in on-base percentage (.465), 11th in slugging percentage (.520), and 14th in batting average (.316).

To see the full list of Bruin summer assignments and each player's statistics, visit here.

Belmont is coming off their first OVC Regular Season Championship in school history after a 39-20 season that came to an end in extra-innings in the OVC Tournament Championship game. The Bruins swept the conference's major awards, with Andy Bean winning OVC Pitcher of the Year, Guy Lipscomb winning OVC Player of the Year, and Dave Jarvis winning OVC Coach of the Year. Belmont swept Purdue in April, the first road sweep of a Power Five opponent in school history.

 

Lipscomb became the first player in NCAA Division I since 2011 to hit above .400 and steal at least 40 bases on his way to All-American honors, the first Bruin baseball player to be named an All-American since Nick Egli in 2017.

 

Follow Belmont baseball on social media - @BelmontBaseball on Twitter and @belmontbaseball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Original source can be found here