OMAHA, Neb. – Senior Osvaldo Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) went 4-for-4 with four doubles as the Bellevue University baseball team defeated Midland University, 6-3, at Westgate Field on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action. Bellevue improves to 22-6 on the year with the victory while the loss drops Midland to 13-17.
Bellevue staked senior right-hander Sean McManus (Palm Coast, Fla.) to an early 1-0 lead. Gonzalez, the NAIA doubles leader with 20, hit a towering fly ball that clanged off the right field wall to put a pair of runners in scoring position for BU. Junior Colton Nash (Bonney Lake, Wash.) followed that up with a sac fly to medium left to plate junior Trevor Jones (West Richland, Wash.) who led off the inning with a single up the middle.
The Bruins doubled their advantage in the third when Gonzalez drove his second double of the game to the left center fence to chase home junior Ross Feeley (Tehachapi, Calif.).
Bellevue added a trio of runs in the fifth. A bases loaded infield single by junior Gabriel De La Rosa (Miami, Fla.) and a sac fly by senior Aaron Brasher (Vallejo, Calif.) brought home the first two runs. Senior Tyler Blood (Salt Lake City, Utah) brought home Nash from second on a bunt single that didn't escape the infield dirt.
McManus, who limited Midlands to just two hits throughout the first six innings, ran into trouble in the seventh, allowing the first two batters to reach via double and put the Warriors on the board. The sixth batter Garrett Mills launched a no-doubt two-run home run over the left field fence to cut the BU lead to 6-3 to chase McManus.
McManus picked up the win with his performance to improve to 4-1 on the year while junior Leland Tilley (Exeter, Calif.) induced a pop-up double play to end the game and register his fourth save of the season.
Bellevue returns to action on Friday and Saturday, Mar. 27-28 when they host York College for a pair of Midland Collegiate Athletic Conference double-headers, beginning at 1:00 p.m. each day.
