Bruins double-up Stars in season-opener
Ben McKendall was strong on the mound and Bellevue received contributions throughout the lineup
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Junior Ben McKendall struck out nine over six innings while seven players recorded hits as the 12th-ranked Bellevue University baseball team claimed a 6-3 victory over the home-standing Stars of fifth-ranked Oklahoma City University in non-conference action on Friday evening.
With the win, the Bruins (1-0) improve to 3-3 in season-openers under sixth-year head coach Duane Monlux. Oklahoma City now stands at 3-4 on the season.
McKendall - making his Bruin debut - picked up the victory after getting the Opening Day nod, logging all seven innings on the bump.
The Stars, loaded on both sides of the ball, featured nine players on their roster who have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft at some point in their career.
Oklahoma City opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, scoring a run to take an early 1-0 lead. Joe Lytle led off with a double, advanced to third on a single by Jared Baker, before stealing home for the game's first run.
Senior Trevor Jones stroked the Bruins' first hit of the year, a two-out single in the third. Jones swiped third with junior Elijah Dickerson batting. Dickerson wound up reaching on a throwing error that advanced Jones to third but the Bruins stranded both runners following senior Ross Feeley's groundout.
The Bruins took their first lead of the game in the fourth. Junior Derik Bontempo delivered a one-out single and stole second to put himself into scoring position. After advancing to third on a ground out by senior Gabriel De La Rosa, Colton Nash reached on a fielding error which scored Bontempo. Nash reach third on the play and come in to score when the next batter, junior Todd Nicks, singled to left center giving BU a 2-1 advantage.
J.J. Bissell singled with one out in the bottom half of the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, took third on Cory Linn's groundout, and scored on a single by Dilon Argo to tie the game at 2-2.
Bellevue didn't let that stand long, responding with another run a half inning later using some well-executed small ball tactics. Dickerson was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Feeley laid down a sac bunt to advance Dickerson to second. Dickerson then stole third before coming in to score on junior Jake Browne's sac fly to right field.
An inning later the Bruins went on to add to their lead. Senior Colton Nash led off the inning with a double to left. A walk by Nicks put two runners on with nobody out. After a pair of outs, Dickerson reached on an infield single to load the bases. Feeley followed that up with a two-run single up the middle to put the Bruins up 5-2.
The Stars got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Bissell laced a two-out double to plate pinch-runner Joe Haddox, cutting the Bruin lead to 5-3.
Bellevue added an insurance run in the seventh. Bontempo led the inning off with a base hit to right before being lifted for a pinch-runner, sophomore Matt Evans. Evans took second on a passed ball and scored on an RBI-single to right center by Nash to push the lead to 6-3.
McKendall (1-0, 2.57) struck out the side as he tossed a scoreless seventh to secure the victory. McKendall's final line saw him throw six innings, striking out nine, and limiting Oklahoma City to three runs (two earned) on six hits.
Bontempo (3-4, run) and Nash (2-4, RBI, 2B, 2 runs) both recorded multi-hit games for Bellevue. Browne, Dickerson, Nicks, senior Connor Garrison, and Jones each added hits in the victory.
Carlos Chavez (1-1, 4.05) took the loss for OKCU. Chavez worked 6.1 innings while allowing all six runs (four earned) on eight hits and striking out five.
The Bruins don't have to wait long to get back on the diamond. Bellevue plays a pair of games tomorrow. They play MidAmerica Nazarene (1-0) at 12:30 p.m. before taking on Oklahoma City (3-4) again at 3 p.m.
