OMAHA, Neb. -- The Bellevue University baseball team clubbed 19 hits (one off their season-high) to claim a 16-1 seven inning win over College of the Ozarks in game one of a Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference series at Westgate Field on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, Bellevue, ranked 17th nationally, improves to 34-11 (12-5 MCAC) while Ozarks drops to 17-16 (9-8 MCAC) with the loss.
Consecutive singles by Gabriel De La Rosa (4-5, 5 RBI, run) and Aaron Brasher (3-5, 4 RBI, run) put the Bruins on the board first as Bellevue hammered out four hits and added a walk in the opening inning to take a 2-0 lead.
The Bobcats cut the deficit in half, scoring a run of their own, in the top of the third. A two-out double to the left center fence by Cody Hull, followed by a Texas League single to left center by Cody Pentecost put Ozarks on the board.
Bellevue scored 10 runs in the fifth to take a commanding 12-1 lead, recording nine hits while sending 14 batters to the plate. Osvaldo Gonzalez (3-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 walks, 2 runs) led off the inning with a solo home run to left, his 12th of the year, the first of 10 straight Bruins reached base in the inning.
Bellevue added four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on a run-scoring walk by Gonzalez, two-run single by De La Rosa, and RBI-single by Aaron Brasher.
Trevor Jones (4-5, 2B, RBI, 2 runs) and Kevin Rodriguez (2-4, 2 runs) each added multi-hit games in support of starter Steve Sarcone. Sarcone (7-1) worked all seven innings, striking out nine, while allowing just one run on three hits.
Southpaw Joshua Neufeld took the loss for Ozarks. He was strong through the first four innings where he struck out eight and limited the Bruins to two runs. The fifth proved his undoing as his final line saw him toss four plus inning and surrender 11 runs (6 earned) one 15 hits and one walk while striking out eight.
Bellevue and Ozarks will wrap up their series tomorrow with three seven-inning games starting at 11:00 a.m.
