OMAHA, Neb. -- The Pirates scored the game's first run but the Bellevue University baseball team answered back immediately as they rattled off 10 unanswered runs to defeat Park University 10-1 on Tuesday evening at John Stella Field at Brown Park.
Bellevue has now won three of four to improve to 25-19 on the year while Park drops to 18-17 with losses in three of their last four contests.
Bellevue 10, Park 1
The first three batters of the opening frame each reached but Bruin starter Junior Ramirez did well to limit the damage to just one run, stranding runners on second and third as he ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Bellevue answered back in the bottom half of the frame when JT Patterson sent a deep fly ball to left to score Kory Longaker from third.
Back-to-back RBI-singles from Blake Macdonald and Longaker in the second put BU up 3-1 before Riley Baasch launched his team leading 10th home run, a three-run shot to left-center.
The Bruins tacked on a run in the fourth when Matt Evans' hit a lazy fly ball to left-center that found the outfield grass for a two-out RBI-double.
Park threatened in the top of the fifth as the Pirates loaded the bases with just one out. However, Ramirez again pitched his way out of trouble with a strikeout and a line drive that was snared by Macdonald to leave the bases full.
BU pushed their lead to 8-1 with a sac fly from Longaker to score Sparks in the sixth and added another in the seventh when two groundouts brought in Baasch who led the inning off with a double.
Longaker added an RBI-single in the eighth to account for the final margin.
Ramirez (4-1) picked up the victory on the hill for the Bruins with five solid innings of work in which he limited Park to a run on six hits while stranding eight runners.
Colten Barnes picked up his first save of the year with four strong innings of relief. He held Park to just one hit and struck out six during his appearance.
KJ Courtney (1-1) suffered the loss for the Pirates after being touched up for seven runs – but just two earned – on eight hits.
Up Next:
Bellevue is scheduled to hit the road for a four-game series in La Crosse, Wis. against Viterbo University. The teams are slated to play double-headers on both Friday (2 p.m.) and Saturday (noon), respectively.
Top Performers:
Junior Ramirez: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 5 SO
Colten Barnes: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 6 SO
Riley Baasch: 3-4, HR (10), 2B, 3 RBI
Blake Macdonald: 3-4, 2 Runs, RBI
Kory Longaker: 3-4, 3 RBI, 2 Runs
