Tone-setting first delivers 20-2 BU victory

LAKE WALES, Fla. -- All nine starters recorded a base hit and either drove in or scored a run as the No. 5-ranked Bellevue University baseball team fed off a seven-run first inning to trounce Warner University 20-2 on Tuesday evening at Royals Field.

Bellevue moves to 9-4 overall, and 2-2 on their spring trip, while Warner falls to 13-9.

Two-run triples from Nick Grade and Kanta Kobayashi in the top of the first represented the big blows in a seven-run first inning as Bellevue started fast and showed no let up.

Parker McMan (1-0) drew the starting assignment for the Bruins and worked six highly effective innings to earn his first win. He scattered eight hits and limited the damage to a pair of runs.

After Brendan Luther chased home Grade with a third innings single, Alec Ackerman blasted a three-run shot for an 11-0 lead.

Riley Rozar (3-3) took it on the chin for the Royals, being tagged for 11 runs on 11 hits in just three innings.

Lenny Pietersz and Devin Bartley drove in runs in the third and fourth, respectively for Warner.

BU added a five-run fifth and four-run sixth to stretch the lead to 20-2, allowing both coaching staffs to empty their benches in the final frames.

Elijah Boersen made his collegiate debut, striking out the side in the seventh around a two-out single, to close out the game.

Table setters Kobayashi and Luther combined to go 6-for-9, scoring five runs scored and driving in five from the top two spots in the order.

The Bruins are off tomorrow before returning to play on Thursday, Mar. 9 with a noon tilt against the University of St. Francis.