LAKE WALES, Fla. -- The 17th-ranked Bellevue University baseball team used a six-run first inning to run away with the Warner University Invational title Saturday, registering an 8-1 victory over the host school, Warner University.
The Bruins finished with a perfect 5-0 record in the tournament, improving to 12-4-1 on the season. BU has now won six-straight games. Warner fell to 11-18 overall.
Nate Mullins led BU at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs.
Ricky Holm (2-0) tossed a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no walks, earning the complete-game victory.
The Bruins scored six runs in the first inning on four hits, highlighted by a two-run double by Mullins and an RBI single by Tanner Moore. Bellevue was also aided by a pair of bases-loaded hit batsmen.
An RBI single by Henry Alterado in the bottom of the third extended the BU lead to 7-0.
Mullins registered his third RBI of the game in the fourth frame, driving in Moore with a single to left field, to make it 8-0.
The Royals avoided the shutout with an RBI double by Justin Burgess in the top of the sixth inning to cut the lead to 8-1.
The Bruins open conference play next Friday-Saturday, March 15-16, with a four-game series at Central Baptist College. Both doubleheaders begin at 1 p.m.
