SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- An 11-run sixth inning sparked the 14th-ranked Bellevue University baseball team to a 17-2 non-conference win at Briar Cliff University on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bruins improved to 27-7 on the season with the win. Briar Cliff fell to 16-11-1 overall.
Gabriel De La Rosa and Osvaldo Gonzalez both drove in five runs in the victory. Gonzalez finished 4-for-6 with five RBIs, a double and a home run. De La Rosa was 3-for-5 at the plate, with a home run and five RBIs. Trevor Jones went 3-for-6 with three RBIs, three runs scored and a triple.
Bellevue had 18 total hits in the victory.
The Bruins took an early 3-0 lead on a two-run single by De La Rosa and an RBI single by Colton Nash.
Bellevue increased the lead to 5-0 in the second on an RBI triple by Jones and a ground-out RBI by Ross Feeley.
A bases-loaded ground-out RBI by Arik Ward sliced the BU lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the third.
A grand slam by Gonzalez and a three-run homer by De La Rosa highlighted the 11-run sixth inning as BU surged ahead, 16-1. Fifteen Bruins came to the plate in the inning.
An RBI single by Dan Greco gave the Bruins their 17th run in the top of the eighth.
A bases-loaded fielder's choice RBI by Brody Pitkin in the bottom of the eighth cut the lead to 17-2.
Sean McManus earned the win, improving to 5-1 on the season, allowing just one earned run while scattering seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks in five innings of work.
The Bruins return to conference action this Friday-Saturday, April 3-4, when they travel to McPherson, Kan. to battle Central Christian College in a four-game series. Friday's doubleheader will begin at 4 p.m. First pitch on Saturday will be at noon.
