SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The No. 5-ranked Bellevue University baseball team fought their way back from an early three-run deficit to claim a 12-4 victory over Morningside University in their final non-conference and road game of the regular season on Tuesday evening.
Bellevue improves to 35-6 after their eighth-straight victory while Morningside dips to 29-11 as their modest three-game win streak comes to a half.
BU 12, Mside 4
Morningside opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Brian Garcia reached on an error that allowed two runs to score and Eddie Brancato added to the lead with a solo home run in the third.
Tradd Richardson put BU on the board in the fourth with a sac fly. An inning later Kanta Kobayashi halved that two-run deficit with an RBI-single ahead of a two-run knock by Logan Grant that gave the Bruins a 4-3 lead.
The game remained a tight affair until a three-run eighth featuring run-scoring singles from Richardson, Drew Staley, and Eric Anderson stretched the Bellevue lead to 7-3.
R Kiolbassa singled home a run for the Mustangs in the bottom of the eighth but any momentum gained was quickly lost in the ninth.
BU scored five times in the ninth on RBI-singles by Grant and Richardson, RBI-doubles from Nick Grade and Anthony Lind, and a wild pitch on strike three to Staley.
Bellevue used seven pitchers in the victory with Kenji Miller (2-0) recording the victory across two innings of relief.
Alexandro Celiceo and Cade Sakamoto worked three combined innings of hitless relief, coming on immediately following Miller. Blake Crippen got the start and worked one scoreless inning and Teron Williams bookended the evening with a scoreless ninth to hold onto the victory.
Kai Purdy-Burton took the ball for Morningside and worked two perfect innings before handing it over to the bullpen which struggled for most of the evening with five of six relievers allowing at least one run. Josh Pratt (2-1) suffered the loss as he surrendered the lead in the fourth.
Up Next:
Bellevue hosts Mayville State University (16-18/10-9 NSAA) this weekend at Brown Park. Friday's double-header is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday's action begins at noon with Senior Day ceremonies slated for between games of that double-header.
