SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The No. 5 Bellevue University baseball team permanently etched themselves into the record book on Tuesday evening. The Bruins defeated Morningside College 11-7 to match a school record with their 27th-straight victory, equaling the mark set by the 2004 squad.
With the victory BU improves to 34-6 on the season while Morningside drops to 22-17 with their seventh loss in their last 10 games.
Bellevue staked their claim to an early lead with a first inning run. The game got off to an inauspicious start with starter J.L. Tourville plunking each of the first two Bruin hitters to come to the plate. After a walk to Derik Bontempo, Todd Nicks delivered a sac fly to put Bellevue on the board.
The Bruins wasted no time in expanding upon their advantage, hanging a five-spot in the top of the second inning, and seizing control of the ballgame. Miles Campbell, Nicks, and Hunter Kelley all delivered run-scoring hits with a Matt Evans RBI-double and a Bontempo sac fly interspersed in the offensive output.
Jake Browne singled home Campbell in the third to stretch the lead to 7-0 for Bellevue before Morningside struck back with four runs in the bottom of the third. The key blow came when Nate DeChaine drilled a three-run home run down the right field line to pull Morningside to within three at 7-4.
Nicks wasted no time in assuring the home-standing Mustangs would not record a shutdown inning as he blasted his team-leading 10th home run to lead off the fourth. The Bruins added another run on an Alec Chaney RBI-single to give the visitors a 9-4 edge.
Morningside got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on DeChaine's second home run of the game but Diego Iribarren and Campbell delivered a run-scoring triple and single, respectively.
The Mustangs added single runs in each the seventh and eighth inning to pull to within 11-7 but could get no closer as Bellevue held on for the historic victory.
Reliever Dylan Thorp (W, 2-1) earned the win in relief with two effecting innings on the bump. Starter Reid Feeley worked the first three innings for BU where he was charged with allowing four earned runs before yielding the hill to Thorp.
Weekend starters Ben McKendall and Zach Wilson each got an inning of work in relief tossing the sixth and seventh respectively. Robbie Ayres came on to start the eighth but gave way to closer Max Dwyer before retiring a batter. Dwyer worked the final two innings without allowing a run and striking out a pair.
Tourville (L, 1-4) took the loss for the Mustangs after he was tagged for five runs in just 1.1 innings of work.
Bellevue returns to play this weekend with a four-game series at the University of Jamestown. The teams will play a double-header at 1 p.m. on Friday followed by another twin-bill on Saturday at noon.
