Bruins roll to first 4-0 start since 1996

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

CHICKASHA, Okla. - Pitching was the theme of the day for the No. 12 Bellevue University baseball team as the Bruins swept Benedictine College on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins won the opener 2-1 before claiming the nightcap with a 17-2 triumph.

Bellevue (4-0) is off to its best start since the 1996 team opened the year with four-straight wins as well. The Bruins will be looking for their fifth straight win – which would be their best start in known program history – next weekend.

Benedictine (0-4) lost a pair of games last weekend at Friends University and will try to get in the win column tomorrow when they take on University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.

Game One: Bellevue 2, Benedictine 1

Junior outfielder Gabriel De La Rosa's (Miami, Fla.) two-out RBI-double plated junior outfielder Colton Nash (Bonney Lake, Wash.) with the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run for the Bruins in the bottom of the sixth as Bellevue defeated Benedictine 2-1.

After two quick outs to start the inning, Nash doubled before advancing to third on a passed ball. De La Rosa continued his good work at the dish with his team-leading fourth extra-base hit of the season to drive in Nash to break a 1-1 tie.

The Bruins got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs De La Rosa ripped a double and came around to score on senior catcher Aaron Brasher's (Vallejo, Calif.) base knock.

Benedictine responded in the top of the fourth with a run of their own. With two outs and a runner on first, Zach Leonard would reach after getting plunked to put runners at first and second. Logan Elliott singled one batter later to drive in pinch-runner Jerome Roehm with the game-tying run.

A fine pitching display by both sides saw the game deadlocked headed into the sixth before De La Rosa lifted the Bruins to the win.

Junior reliever Leland Tilley (Exeter, Calif.) picked up the win on the mound by firing a scoreless inning of relief, striking out two and allowing just one hit. Junior Kevin Rodriguez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) worked a scoreless seventh, striking out one and allowing a hit, to record his first collegiate save.

As good as the Bruin bullpen was, junior southpaw Braulio Torres-Perez (Auburn, Wash.) was equally excellent over the first five innings. He struck out five while allowing just one earned run on six hits and a walk.

Eli Egger suffered the loss for Benedictine despite 5.2 solid innings in which he allowed just two runs – both earned – on eight hits and a walk.

Game Two: Bellevue 17, Benedictine 2

Bellevue struck early and often and got another strong effort from their pitching staff on the way to a 17-2 victory and their second consecutive double-header sweep to open the 2015 season. BU scored runs in all seven innings en route to the 15-run victory as 20 Bruins saw action. 

Bellevue put pressure on Benedictine as their first four batters reached base to lead off the game with an run-scoring pop-up to second by senior catcher Osvaldo Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) plating the first run of the ballgame. Nash, hitting fifth, connected on a three-run home run one batter later to spot Bruin senior hurler Sean McManus (Palm Coast, Fla.) a 4-0 advantage before taking the hill. The long ball by Nash chased Benedictine starter Aaron Warneke after just 0.1 innings and five batters faced.

A shutdown inning by McManus got the Bellevue offense back to the plate quickly where they wouldn't hesitate to pad their lead. Junior infielder Connor Garrison (Sedro-Woolley, Wash.) reached on an error, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch, before coming home on an RBI-single by junior second baseman Ross Feeley (Tehachapi, Calif.).

The Ravens got one back off McManus in the second but the Bruins answered quickly in the top of the third. De La Rosa and junior outfielder Miles Campbell (New Cumberland, Pa.) walked and doubled, respectively, to lead off the inning. A sac fly by Brasher scored De La Rosa and a ground ball by Rodriguez plated Campbell for a 7-1 Bellevue advantage.

Another quick inning by McManus brought the Bruins back to the plate in the fourth where Feeley led off the inning with a home run. The next batter sophomore infielder Todd Nicks (Bakersfield, Calif.) doubled to chase reliever Curtis Marchand after 2.2 innings. After advancing to third on a fly out by Gonzalez, Nicks came around to score on a passed ball to stretch the lead to eight. De La Rosa hit a two-out double before being pinch-run for by junior Edwin Rodriguez (Ponce, P.R.). Rodriguez came around to score on a single by Campbell for a 10-1 lead.

Benedictine looked poised for a big inning in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases and pushing a run across with one out but McManus induced a ground ball double play to escape further damage.

McManus (1-0) produced a final line of 4.1 innings, two earned runs, three strikeouts, five hits, and two walks. 

Austin Wallace's RBI double gave BU an 11-1 lead in the fifth frame. The Bruins pushed across three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, highlighted by a two-run single by Wallace, a two-run homer by Brasher, an RBI single by Trevor Jones and a bases-loaded walk by Feeley. 

The Bruins will take six days off before returning to action next Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 14-15) with games at No.16 Oklahoma City University and against Grand View University.