PAPILLION, Neb. -- The 17th-ranked Bellevue University baseball team, with hits from 10 different players, defeated Briar Cliff University, 9-0, on Sunday afternoon at Werner Park to wrap up the regular season.
With the win Bellevue improves to 41-12 on the year while the loss drops Briar Cliff to 28-21-1.
Bellevue came away with the game's first run in the bottom of the second inning. With runners on first and second, Trevor Jones hit a bouncing ball up the middle that caromed off the glove of the shortstop to allow Tyler Blood to trot home from second and advance Kevin Rodriguez to third.
Two innings later the Bruins manufactured a run to double their advantage. Rodriguez led off the inning with his second single of the game, took second on a wild pitch, and advanced to third on a sac bunt by Jones. That brought Ross Feeley to the dish and he lofted a fly ball to medium left center that proved deep enough to bring home Rodriguez on a sac fly.
After scoring a run in the second, Blood drove in another in the fifth with a double down the left field line that scored Gabriel De La Rosa from first and allowed Blood to advance to third on the throw home.
The Bruins struck for three more in the sixth courtesy of a two-run double from Colton Nash, a run-scoring groundout by De La Rosa, and a wild pitch to chase home Nash. BU added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run double to left center by Elijah Dickerson.
Bellevue starter Tony Monroy (2-0) was sharp on the hill, logging five scoreless innings and limiting the Chargers to just a pair of hits while striking out three.
Marcco Lovato, John Timmins, Aaron Bain, and Connor Chick combined to work four scoreless innings to preserve the shutout.
Matt Wesselmann (0-4) was saddled with the loss despite not surrendering an earned run in three innings of work.
Bellevue returns to the diamond on Thursday, April 30 for the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., hosted by Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Bellevue, with an 18-6 conference record, will be seeded third and open the tournament against second-seeded York College (39-15, 19-5 MCAC).
