Bruins opens season with sweep over Morningside
The Bellevue University baseball team opened the 2020-21 campaign with a doubleheader sweep over visiting Morningside College on Sunday afternoon on John Stella Field at Brown Park. The Bruins won by scores of 6-2 and 5-2.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Bellevue University baseball team opened the 2020-21 campaign with a doubleheader sweep over visiting Morningside College on Sunday afternoon on John Stella Field at Brown Park.
The Bruins won by scores of 6-2 and 5-2.
The Bruins return to action on Friday, Oct. 16 when they host Midland at Brown Park in a single 9-inning contest beginning at 5 p.m.
Bellevue 6, Morningside 2
The Bruins exploded for six runs in the bottom of the eighth to produce a 6-2 come-from-behind victory over the Mustangs in the opener.
Neither team scored until an RBI single up the middle by Braden Smutz gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning.
MC added a second run in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to center field by Hunter Hope that scored Rease Snyder from third.
Rigo Duarte led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a solo homer to left field to cut the deficit to 2-1. Alec Lee tied the contest with a run-scoring infield single that plated Conner Barnett. Andrew Ishii's three-run blast over the left-field fence gave BU its first lead at 5-2 and a wild pitch led to BU's sixth run of the eighth, scoring Daniel Teasley from third.
Derek Browne (1-0) picked up the win, allowing just one hit with one strikeout in the final two innings.
Jake Prewitt (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on four hits with four strikeouts in four innings of work.
Bellevue 5, Morningside 2
Alec Lee, Nic Metcalf, and Payton Higgins all drove in runs and the Bruins took advantage of four MC fielding errors as BU completed the sweep with the 5-2 victory in the nightcap.
An RBI single up the middle by Metcalf and a run-scoring double by Higgins gave the Bruins an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first frame.
The Bruins added a third run in the second following a throwing error by Morningside catcher Elijah Rude.
A two-out solo homer to left field by Gunnar Kale cut the BU lead to 3-1 in the top of the third.
A wild pitch by Camden Parks allowed Cody Banks to score from third, giving the Bruins a 4-1 advantage in the bottom of the fourth.
Wade Canaday's RBI single up the middle sliced the BU lead to 4-2 in the top of the sixth.
The Bruins countered with Lee's RBI double to deep center-field, pushing the BU lead to 5-2 in the bottom half of the sixth.
Elijah Johnson struck out the side in the top of the seventh to preserve the three-run victory for BU, earning the save.
Charlie Patterson (1-0) earned the victory, after not allowing a hit in 2 1/3 innings of work while striking out three Mustangs and allowing four walks.
