CONWAY, Ark. – The Bellevue University baseball team claimed their first Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference series victory of the season, defeating Central Baptist College 8-2 and 9-2 on Sunday to take three of four from the Mustangs.
Bellevue improves to 22-6 (3-1 MCAC) with the sweep while Central Baptist falls to 16-9 (5-3 MCAC) on the year.
Game One: Bellevue 8, Central Baptist 2
Sophomore Stephan Meyer (Tucson, Ariz.) was nearly untouchable through six innings, helping Bellevue build a five-run lead on their way to an 8-2 victory in game one of a Sunday evening double-header.
Bellevue struck for three runs in the second inning starting with junior Ross Feeley (Tehachapi, Calif.) drawing a bases loaded walk to open the scoring. Later in the inning juniors Kevin Rodriguez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) and Miles Campbell (New Cumberland, Pa.) scored on a passed ball and error on an unusual play.
Bellevue added single runs in each the sixth and seventh innings. The Bruins used a bunt-single by senior Tyler Blood (Salt Lake City, Utah) that scored junior Trevor Jones (West Richland, Wash.). An inning later Jones singled to plate junior Colton Nash (Bonney Lake, Wash.) with yet another insurance run.
Central Baptist tried to make things interesting in the bottom half of the seventh when Santes Richardson took Meyer deep with a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Freshman Dan Greco (Papillion, Neb.) singled home a run in the top of the ninth and Feeley rapped a two-run single to close the scoring and put the game away.
Meyer (4-2) went eight innings, allowing the Richardson two-run home run while scattering five other hits and striking out six batters. Junior Leland Tilley (Exeter, Calif.) loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth but set down Samuel Burczek swinging for his second strikeout of the inning to end the game.
Game Two: Bellevue 9, Central Baptist 2
Colton Nash launched his sixth home run and drove in three on the game as BU completed a Sunday sweep with a 9-2 victory over Central Baptist to win the season series against the Mustangs.
Junior southpaw Drew Ferguson (Overland Park, Kan.) went five shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight to pick up the victory and move his record to 4-0 on the season.
Tyler Blood got the Bruins on the board first, scoring on a passed ball in the top of the first. Later in the inning Trevor Jones worked a bases loaded walk to double the BU advantage at 2-0.
The big blow in the game came an inning later when Nash drilled a three-run shot to score senior Osvaldo Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) and Ross Feeley. That put the Bruins up 5-0, a lead that BU would maintain until the fifth.
In the fifth Dan Greco recorded an RBI-double to score junior Rodee Anderson (Corvallis, Mont.) and an inning later Jones scored on an RBI-groundout by junior Elijah Dickerson (Vancouver, Wash.) to give Bellevue their largest lead of the game to that point.
The Mustangs struck for their lone run in the bottom of the sixth when Josh Buczek singled to score Cody Rhoades.
Bellevue added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. Greco hit a sac fly to short left to score Anderson and Blood added a sac fly to right to score Jones.
Tristian Graves added a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh for Central Baptist to account for the final run.
Bellevue returns to the diamond on Tuesday, Mar. 24 with a non-conference game in Fremont, Neb. at Midland at 5:00 p.m. After that the Bruins host York College in their MCAC home-opener Friday and Saturday Mar. 27-28 with double-headers beginning at 1:00 p.m. on both days.
