BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University baseball team, riding a four-game win streak and fresh off a weekend sweep of No. 4 Tabor, is currently being featured on perfectgame.org.
Link to perfectgame.org article: http://perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=12169
Ranked 12th in the preseason NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the Bruins are off to a strong 5-1 start and outside organizations are beginning to take notice. BU has played a top-notch schedule with five of their six games coming against teams ranked in the top five nationally at the time. Bellevue has one each of those five games by a combined 31-16 margin.
Things don't get any easier for BU as they travel south with three neutral site games against a very strong (RV) York College team this weekend and a fourth game against Saint Mary (Kan.).
The Bruins have been led offensively by the trio of Ross Feeley, Trevor Jones, and Colton Nash who have combined to hit .450 with six doubles, 18 RBIs, and 13 runs scored. On the hill BU has received back-to-back strong starting performances by Ben McKendall (2-0, 1.20, 17 SO) and Braulio Torres-Perez (1-0, 3.75, 10 SO). Leland Tilley (2-0, 1 Save) has anchored the bullpen with a 2.08 ERA and is averaging 16.62 strikeouts per game.
Collectively the offense has been firing on all cylinders in the early going as Bellevue is averaging a tick under seven runs per game thus far, hitting .312 as a club, and is striking out in just 17 percent of their plate appearances. After a couple early hiccups pitching the arms have started to show some shutdown capability as BU posted a 2.74 ERA as a team in their sweep of Tabor.
The 5-1 start by the Bruins is the program's best since going unbeaten in their first six games of the 2013 season and their second-best all-time. The Bellevue nine is back on the diamond Friday, Feb. 26 when they take on York in Pittsburg, Kan. at noon.
