LAKE WALES and AVON PARK, Fla. -- For the second time in as many days, the No. 7 ranked Bellevue University baseball team won their opener but fell in the second game at the Warner Invitational.
The Bruins downed Michigan-Dearborn 7-1 in the opener before going on to a setback against Mount Vernon Nazarene, 9-1, to finish the day.
Bellevue evened their record at .500 with the game one win before moving a game under, 9-10, with the loss in the nightcap. With their loss, Michigan-Dearborn fell to 7-12 while Mount Vernon Nazarene improved to 17-5 on the year.
Game One: BU 7, Michigan-Dearborn 1
Bellevue broke open a 2-1 game with five seventh-inning runs to down Michigan-Dearborn 7-1 to begin the second day of play at the 2020 Warner Invitational.
Blake Berry's (1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 2 runs) two-run third inning home run was the only offense until the bottom of the fifth when UMD's Ryan Beadle singled in David Gault-Villareal to cut the Bellevue lead in half.
Starters for both teams threw well. Corey Jackson (1-2) went the distance allowing just the one run on three hits while striking out nine batters against just one walk.
UMD's John Dyda (1-4) was cruising through his first six innings. He allowed just one run on five hits until the Bruins broke through in the seventh.
Andrew Ishii (1-4, 3B, 3 RBI, run) knocked Dyda from the bump with a bases-loaded triple that put BU ahead 6-1. Tanner Hodges came on in relief and got the next two batters to fly out to end the inning, however, Alec Lee's (1-3, RBI) fly ball scored Ishii from third.
With some momentum and insurance, Jackson finished off UMD with a 1-2-3 seventh to secure the victory.
Dyda's final line for the Wolverines saw him allow seven runs – five earned – on seven hits over 6.1 innings. He struck out five and walked four batters.
Game Two: Mount Vernon Nazarene 9, BU 1
Mount Vernon Nazarene jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and never trailed as the Cougars exacted some revenge for an 11-2 thrashing at the hands of Bellevue this past Saturday.
Blake Berry's (1-4, HR, RBI, run) third inning home run was all the offense the Bruins could muster as MVNU starter Jake Glover (3-0) held the Bruins to just seven hits in a complete game effort.
Glover helped his own cause with a two-run home run in the top of the first to open the scoring.
After Berry's big fly halved the lead, MVNU scored on a Toby Walker single and again on a Bellevue error to go up 4-1 in the fourth.
BU starter Colton Walker (1-2) kept the Bruins in the game with a solid showing until the floodgates opened and the Cougars erupted for five runs in the seventh.
Cody Banks (2-3) had a pair of hits in the loss for Bellevue.
Up Next:
Bellevue wraps up their Florida trip tomorrow with a placement game in the Warner Invitational. An opponent and game time will likely not be known until late tonight.
