Bruins erupt for 38 runs to complete sweep

McPHERSON, Kan. -- Seniors Osvaldo Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) and Tyler Blood (Salt Lake City, Utah) combined to drive in 17 runs on the afternoon as the No. 14 Bellevue University baseball team wrapped up a four-game Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference sweep at Central Christian College on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins won the opener 19-2 before cruising to a 19-0 rout in the nightcap to improve to 31-7 overall and 10-2 in MCAC play. The losses drop Central Christian to 7-34 overall in 2-14 in league play.

The 38 runs scored on the day are the most a Bruin team has scored in a double-header since scoring 40 against Jamestown on May 21, 2004 and the most in a regular-season double-header in known program history. The 61 runs scored in the series are the most scored by the Bruins since scoring 64 in a four-game set against Oklahoma Wesleyan from April 17-18, 2005.

Game One: Bellevue 19, Central Christian 2 (7 Innings)

The Bellevue offense launched four home runs during a 19-hit assault which included nine extra base hits on the way to a 19-2, 7-inning victory over Central Christian.

The Bruins and Tigers traded runs in the opening inning with junior Colton Nash (Bonney Lake, Wash.) delivering an RBI-single for BU and Reynaldo Echenique producing a sac fly for CCC.

An inning later, the Bruins exploded for five runs courtesy of a three-run homer by Osvaldo Gonzalez sandwiched between RBI-singles by junior Ross Feeley (Tehachapi, Calif.) and Tyler Blood. Gonzalez added his second dinger of the game two-innings later, a two-run shot which took place two batters before senior Aaron Brasher (Vallejo, Calif.) hit a two-run homer of his own.

Blood got into the long ball action with his second of the season the next inning, drilling a three-run shot that scored Nash and junior Elijah Dickerson (Vancouver, Wash.) and the Bruins, with a 13-1 lead were well on their way to victory.

Central Christian got a run back in the bottom half of the fifth but BU quelled any thoughts of an improbable comeback with six runs in the top of the sixth.

Junior Stephan Meyer (Tucson, Ariz.) worked six innings to improve to 6-2 on the year. He was charged with allowing two runs on three hits while issuing three walks and striking out 11.

Game Two: Bellevue 19, Central Christian 0

Senior Sean McManus (Palm Coast, Fla.) was backed by yet another offensive outpouring by the Bellevue bats on his way to tossing a complete game three-hit shutout while striking out 10 to improve to 6-1 on the season with a 19-0 victory over Central Christian.

Bellevue opened the scoring in the second when Osvaldo Gonzalez and Colton Nash went yard back-to-back. Gonzalez launched a grand slam which Nash followed up with a solo job to give the Bruins the early 5-0 advantage.

The Bruins hung crooked numbers on the scoreboard three more times in the contest, scoring five in the fourth, four in the fifth, and five in the seventh.

Gonzalez led the offensive charge with a 2-for-2 effort while drawing a pair of walks, scoring three runs, and driving in five. Colton Nash (3-4, 3 runs, 3 RBI), Ross Feeley (2-2, 3 runs, 2 walks), Tyler Blood (2-4, 3 RBI), and Elijah Dickerson (2-5, 2 runs) all tallied multi-hit efforts in support of Gonzalez.

With his 4-for-5 day that included three long balls and 10 runs batted in, Gonzalez is now hitting a team-high .485 (2^nd NAIA) with 10 home runs and 46 RBI on the year.

Bellevue is back in action on Monday, April 6 with a 4:00 p.m. contest at Northwestern before returning home for a four-game set with No. 10 Oklahoma Wesleyan Friday and Saturday, April 10-11 at Roddy Field.