Bruins earn split at No. 16 Tabor
The ninth-ranked Bellevue University baseball team earned a doubleheader split Saturday at 16th-ranked Tabor College, falling in the opener, 8-3, before rebounding with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
MAIZE, Kan. -- The ninth-ranked Bellevue University baseball team earned a doubleheader split Saturday at 16th-ranked Tabor College, falling in the opener, 8-3, before rebounding with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
The Bruins moved to 2-3 on the season with the split. Tabor is now 5-5 overall.
The two teams will complete the three-game series with a single 9-inning contest on Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m.
Game 1: Tabor 8, Bellevue 3
Tabor grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Kyle James that scored Abdiel Alicea Diaz who led off the inning with a double deep down the right-field line. The Bruins tied it at 1-1 in the top of the third with a run-scoring single by Kory Longaker that plated Brandon Salmon from second.
A two-run homer over the right-field fence by Travis Tanaka gave BU its first lead at 3-1 in the top of the fifth frame.
The Bluejays responded in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run by Wyatt Nowack, slicing the BU lead to 3-2.
Tabor regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs, highlighted by RBI singles from Freddy Walker and Cody Stineman and a sacrifice fly to deep right-center field by Kyle James, giving TC a 6-3 advantage.
The Bluejays pushed the lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the eighth sparked by Dominic Vesentin's RBI triple to deep left-center. The Bruins managed just one base-runner in the top of the ninth as TC secured the five-run victory.
Colten Barnes (1-1) suffered the loss, giving up six runs on six hits with three strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
Game 2: Bellevue 5, Tabor 1
The Bruins never trailed, using RBIs from four different players and the solid pitching of Stephen Knapp, en route to the 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
Diego Irribaren's RBI triple to deep left-center field and a Bluejay fielding error gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
An RBI double deep down the left-field line by Jonah Yang extended the BU lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth.
The Bluejays got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, following a balk by Knapp allowing Alicea Diaz to score from third, slicing the deficit to 3-1.
The Bruins added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh, sparked by a solo home run from pinch hitter Hunter Robson, giving BU a 5-1 advantage.
Max Dwyer closed the game in the seventh, allowing just one hit to secure the 5-1 BU victory.