Offense erupts in big win over Warner

LAKE WALES, Fla. -- The Bellevue University baseball team jumped out to an 8-0 lead after just two innings and never looked back as the Bruins cruised to an 11-3 victory over Warner University on Tuesday afternoon.

Bellevue improves to 9-6 overall on the season while Warner drops to 11-14. The Bruins next play in the Warner Tournament from Thursday through Saturday, Mar. 9-11. BU has games against Saint Francis and Mount Vernon Nazarene on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., respectively.

Blake Macdonald got offense rolling in the first inning with an RBI-single to right field to plate Matt Evans. A batter later Derik Bontempo came in to score on a wild pitch to double the BU lead to 2-0.

Bellevue added six runs in the second inning – nearly every way imaginable – courtesy of a bases-loaded walk, run-scoring double play, a pair of wild pitches, an error, and an RBI-single.

The lead remained at 8-0 into the sixth inning when Junior Fermin scored on a passed ball to put the Royals on the board.

BU responded with a pair of sac flies off the bats of Brandon Salmon and Jake Browne in the seventh to stretch their lead to 10-1.

A Colby Retkowski sac fly and a Xanders Vazquez single in the home half of the seventh brought Warner to within 10-3.

The Bruins capped the scoring in the eight with a sac fly from Macdonald to account for the 11-3 final.

Reid Feeley (W, 2-0) got the win in his first start of the season. He lasted 6.2 innings while limiting Warner to three runs (two earned) on five hits and striking out four.

Josh Lewis (L, 1-1) was charged with the loss for the Royals after being tagged for five earned runs - eight in total - on three hits and five walks before being chased after just 1.2 innings of work.