OMAHA, Neb. -- The Bellevue University baseball team pounded out 18 hits in a season-opening 17-4 win over Hastings College on Saturday afternoon at John Stella Field at Brown Park.
The win was the fifth-straight in season openers for BU, who improved to 10-5 in season openers under head coach Duane Monlux.
Hastings falls to 0-3 with the loss after dropping both ends of a doubleheader at Ottawa on Wednesday.
Six pitchers saw action for the Bruins on the afternoon, with three posting scoreless outings. Kody Butt (1-0), the first man out of the bullpen, earned the win with two hitless innings of relief. Parker McMan also worked a pair of scoreless innings, and Brady Toth posted the only 1-2-3 inning of the game in the eighth.
Steven Elsner finished 3-3 with three doubles, three RBI, a sac fly, and three runs scored. He staked BU to an early lead, chasing home Scott Hansen (3-5, 2 runs, SB) in the bottom of the first.
Elijah Tanner, who finished the day 3-6 with four RBI and a pair of runs scored, broke a 1-1 tie in the third with an opposite-field two-run single for his first hit as a Bruin.
Solo home runs from CJ Townsend and Logan Grant highlighted a six-run fourth as the Bruins gained some separation.
The Bruins scored in every inning but the second, tacking on two in the fifth, one in the sixth, three in the seventh, and two more in the eighth.
Hastings scratched across one run in the seventh and a pair in the ninth.
All nine Bruins starters recorded a hit, as 11 Bruins in total did so in the game, with CJ Townsend recording a pair in addition to a trio of three-hit games.
John Shepherd (0-1) took the loss for the Broncos, allowing three runs on six hits and a pair of walks in three innings of work.
Mason Masur finished 2-3 with a solo home run in the seventh to highlight the Hastings offense.
Bellevue is back in action next weekend with a trio of games against Top 25 competition in Oklahoma City. The Bruins face #20 Concordia University on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 12:30 p.m. before facing off against No. 23 Oklahoma City University. The Bruins and Stars wrap up the weekend with an 11 a.m. first pitch on Sunday, Feb. 9.
