Bruins opens season with sweep over Morningside

Bruins opens season with sweep over Morningside

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.