Baseball posts wins over MidAmerica Nazarene, Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Bellevue University baseball team improved to 5-0-1 on the season, posting wins against MidAmerica Nazarene University and fourth-ranked Oklahoma City University Saturday night at Jim Wade Stadium.

The Bruins (5-0-1) will conclude their road trip with a rematch against Oklahoma City on Sunday at noon.

Bellevue 6 , MNU 5

A walk-off RBI single by Kyle Kinman in the bottom of the seventh helped the Bruins escape with a 6-5 win over MidAmerica Nazarene in the opener. 

The Bruins raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Nate Mullins and a two-run double by Brian Embery. 

The Pioneers stormed back in the top of the third, tying the game with three runs on an RBI single through the left side by Clayton Brandt, a sacrifice fly to center field by Colin Starr and an RBI single through the right side by Joe Smith. 

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the sixth when the Bruins regained the lead at 5-3 with an RBI double by Chad McLaren and a one-run single by Mullins.

MNU tied it up on the top of the seventh frame, scoring on a wild pitch and a groundout RBI by Brandt before Kinman ended the game with his RBI single to centerfield that scored Zach Clark from third base.

Tanner Moore (2-0) earned the win for the Bruins while Trent Hedlund (1-2) took the loss for the Pioneers.

Bellevue 15, Oklahoma City 3

BU recorded 15 hits and capitalized on five errors en route to a 15-3 win in the nightcap.

The Bruins opened the game with two runs in the top of the first inning off of RBI singles from Mullins and Embery. The Stars countered with a run in the bottom half of the first on an RBI double from Jonathan Rodriguez to cut the deficit to 2-1.

An RBI single by Tanner Moore and a two-run bases-loaded double by Mullins gave BU a 5-1 margin in the top of the second frame. Moore scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-1.  

Bellevue erupted for five third-inning runs highlighted by an RBI single from Moore and a three-run double by Embery to extend the lead to 11-1. 

The Bruins added an unearned run in the top of the fifth to increase the margin to 12-1.

OCU added two runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut its deficit down to 12-3.

The Bruins answered back with three more runs in the top of the sixth. Chandler McLaren hit a two-run triple and scored on a throwing error by OCU catcher Kale Gaden.

Robert Greco improved to 2-0 on the season recording eight strikeouts in the complete game victory. Patrick Goelz fell to 2-1 for the Stars, allowing nine runs in 2.2 innings of work.