BU stays alive at MCAC Tourney with 11-5 win over Ozarks

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BARTLESVILLE, Okla. --  Second-seeded Bellevue University stayed alive in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament with an 11-5 win over College of the Ozarks Friday night at Bill Doenges Memorial Park Stadium.

Bellevue (36-14-2) will face York College in an elimination game at noon on Saturday. York defeated the Bruins, 4-2, on Thursday in BU's first game of the double-elimination tournament. York fell to top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan, 7-3, earlier in the night. 

Ozarks ended its season at 24-26. 

Joe Mancuso went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, and five RBIs to lead the Bruin offense. Kyle Kinman finished 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Aaron Brasher also drove in a pair of runs, going 2-for-2 with a double. 

Mancuso's two-run triple followed by Tyler Blood's RBI single gave BU a 3-0 lead in the second.

Three-straight extra-base RBI hits by the Bobcats tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom half of the frame.

Mancuso's RBI double gave BU the lead back in the fourth at 4-3.

Fifth inning run-scoring singles by Brasher and Mancuso extended the Bruin lead to 6-3.

Ozarks' Silas Bohannan hit a solo home run in the fifth countered by Kinman's sixth inning solo shot, making the score, 7-4.

Mancuso's second RBI double extended the BU lead to 8-4 in the top of the seventh.

A Bruin passed ball allowed a Bobcat run to push across in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the deficit to 8-5.

Bellevue added insurance runs in the eighth and ninth, scoring on an RBI single by Kinman in the eighth and a sacrifice fly by Brasher in the ninth. BU added an 11th run thanks to a Bobcat fielding error to make the final, 11-5. 

Brennan Henry (8-2) earned the win, allowing five runs while scattering nine hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in eight innings of work. 

Timmy Townsend suffered the loss, falling to 4-6 on the season, giving up eight runs on 12 hits, while striking out four batters.