OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The No. 3 Bellevue University baseball team pounded out 14 hits, including a season-high three home runs, as the Bruins defeated host Oklahoma City University, 10-7, to complete a 3-0 weekend at Jim Wade Stadium.
The win was the Bruins' fourth in a row as BU improves to 6-1 on the young season. Oklahoma City falls to 13-3 overall.
Miles Campbell led off the top of the first inning with a solo shot, his first of the year. Jake Browne launched a two-run shot in the third inning for his first long ball of the year. Todd Nicks provided BU's third, and final, home run of the day with a two-run job in the seventh to cap the Bruins' scoring for the afternoon.
Brandon Greiger matched Campbell with a leadoff home run in the home half of the first but that was all the offense Oklahoma City could manage in the early going as Bellevue staked their claim to a 6-1 after the visiting half of the third.
Junior Colten Barnes pitched effectively enough over 4.1 innings to hand a 6-5 lead to the bullpen.
Reid Feeley (W, 1-0) logged 1.2 innings of relief in which he allowed just one run to get the Bruins through six and earn the win. David Mendez tossed the game's final three innings to earn his first save. He allowed just one unearned run on three hits and struck out seven.
Oklahoma City got as close as 8-6 after the sixth inning but Nicks' two-run home run gave Bellevue a comfortable four-run cushion with which to work and Mendez held the potent Stars' offense in check.
Roberto Delgado (L, 2-1) was tagged with the loss for the Stars after surrendering six runs on seven hits in just 2.1 innings on the hill. The OCU bullpen had a much nicer showing, allowing just three earned runs – four total – on seven hits and striking out 10 over the game's final 6.2 innings.
Campbell (3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 Runs), Joe Moran (2-2, 2 Runs), Derik Bontempo (3-4, 2B, RBI, Run), Browne (2-5, HR, 2 RBI, Run), and Matt Evans (2-4, 2B, 3B, 2 Runs) all finished with multi-hit games for Bellevue.
Joe Lytle and Garrett Foster each put together three-hit games for the home side while Jared Baker, Shaun Corso, and Skyler Bean each produced two-hit efforts with Baker and Corso each going yard for the Stars.
Bellevue hits the diamond again next weekend with a three-game set in Bartlesville, Okla. against former MCAC rival Oklahoma Wesleyan. The Bruins and Eagles will play a single, nine-inning game on Friday at 2 p.m. and then on Saturday the two sides will play a twin-bill with first pitch slated for noon. The first game will be nine innings with the second being a seven-inning affair.
