Bruins post a pair of convincing wins over Ozarks in MCAC opener

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | MCAC Standings

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- The Bellevue University baseball team opened Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference action with a sweep at College of the Ozarks Friday night at Coach Bob Smith Field.

The Bruins took the opener 14-3, in seven innings, before winning 13-5 in the finale.

Bellevue improved to 12-5-2 overall and 2-0 in the MCAC while Ozarks fell to 11-11 and 0-2 in conference action.

The Bruins and Bobcats will wrap-up their four-game conference series tomorrow (March 15) with an 11:00 a.m. doubleheader.

Bellevue 14, College of the Ozarks 3 (7 innings)

The Bruins exploded for 14 hits, including two home runs from Bryce Kelly and three doubles by Kyle Kinman, as BU cruised to the 14-3 win in the opener. Ten of Bellevue's 14 hits were extra-base hits including seven doubles and three home runs. 

Kelly finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two home runs. Kinman went 4-for-5 with three doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. Nate Mullins drove in four runs, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and a home run. Zack Clark went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and Galli Cribbs drove in three runs, while going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. 

The Bruins got out of the gate quickly, starting the contest with four-consecutive hits, including a two-run homer by Mullins, an RBI double by Kinman and a one-run single by Cribbs to give Bellevue an early 4-0 advantage. BU added a fifth run in the first inning on a groundout RBI by Colby Fitzgerald. 

BU led off the second inning with a solo homer by Kelly and once again Kinman (double), Cribbs (single) and Mullins (double) drove in runs to push the BU advantage to 9-0. 

COFO took advantage of two BU fielding errors and a passed ball to score three runs in the bottom of the second, cutting the deficit to 9-3.

Kelly's second homer, a two-run shot to left field, gave the Bruins an 11-3 lead in the third frame. Mullins' sacrifice fly to center field made it 12-3.

After a scoreless fourth inning, a sacrifice fly to right field by Cribbs in the top of the fifth extended the BU lead to 13-3. 

Consecutive doubles by Clark and Kinman gave the Bruins a 14-3 cushion in the top of the seventh. 

Ricky Holm (2-1) picked up his second victory of the season, allowing seven hits while striking out seven and walking three in seven innings on the mound. 

Bellevue 13, College of the Ozarks 5

BU used a five-run first inning and a four-run third en route to a 13-5 win in the finale.

After Clark led off the game with a single, the Bruins used three walks, one error and a hit batsmen to gain a 5-0 advantage in the top of the first. 

An RBI double by Mullins gave BU a 6-0 edge in the second. 

A pair of two-run homers by Kelly and Cribbs pushed the advantage to 10-0 in the top of the third. 

The Bobcats scored their first run of the game in the third inning on a bases-loaded walk.

COFO scored on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the fourth before back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth cut its deficit down to 10-4.

Kelly's sacrifice fly to left field scored Fitzgerald, who doubled earlier in the sixth inning, to push BU's lead to 11-4.

The Bruins scored two more runs in the seventh with RBIs by Mark Medalia and Kinman. After a lead-off triple, COFO scored the final run of the game on a passed ball.

Brennan Henry picked up his third win of the season and struck out nine batters in five complete innings. Silas Bohannan fell to 2-3 after giving up 10 runs on six hits with five walks in 2.2 innings of work.