BABSON PARK, Fla. – After scoring seven runs in the first two innings, the No. 14-ranked Bellevue University baseball team withstood a University of St. Francis comeback bid to hang on for a 10-9 victory on Thursday afternoon.
With their third-straight victory, Bellevue improves their overall record to 10-4 while St. Francis, losers of 11 in a row, slips to 5-14 on the year.
BU's first five hitters all reached safely as the Bruins staked starter Easton Brinton to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. Jake Lacey delivered a two-run single and Logan Grant drove in another with a knock to right before Anthony Lind produced an RBI-groundout.
A sac fly from Eric Maffie and a solo homer from Josh Kirnbauer halved the Bruin advantage in the home half.
Back-to-back jacks from Brendan Luther and Conner Barnett in the second stretched BU's lead to 7-2.
USF countered with a solo home run from Luke Ketchum in the bottom half of the third and a two-run blast from Maffie in the fifth.
The Bruins added single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings on a ground ball double play, solo home run by Grant, and an opposite field double by Luther.
Maffie chased Brinton (1-1), who lasted 6.2 before departing with a 10-7 lead, in the seventh with a solo home run. Brinton struck out one and allowed seven runs – six earned – on 10 hits.
Jake Vera delivered a two-out double off Jared Eifler in the eighth to score a pair of runs and trim the BU lead to a run, 10-9.
Teron Williams came on for the ninth to earn his first save. After two of the first three batters reached, Williams punched out Hector Carillo and got Brayan Hidalgo to fly out to end the game.
Kanta Kobayashi finished 4-for-5 and scored three runs while Luther drove in three and scored a pair while also going 4-for-5 at the dish. Grant added a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5, and Barnett reached safely in four of five plate appearance, drawing a pair of walks, getting hit with a pitch, and belting his first dinger of the year.
John McGuire (1-2) was saddled with the loss after being tagged for seven runs on seven hits in just three innings of work.
Bellevue faces Northwestern College (3-10) tomorrow at 8:15 a.m. from Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale, Fla., the penultimate game of their spring trip.
