Bruins down defending champs, No. 1 Southeastern, 7-4

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Ninth inning home runs off the bats of Mathieu Sirois and Jake Lacey provided the No. 14-ranked Bellevue University baseball team some cushion as they upended No. 1-ranked Southeastern University 7-4 on Saturday at Ted A. Broer Stadium.

With their fifth-straight victory, Bellevue improves their record to 12-4 as they wrap up their spring trip with a 5-2 record. The 12-4 start is the program's best since going 23-4 to open the 2016 season.

The win is the Bruins' first over a No. 1-ranked team since knocking off Oklahoma Baptist in the 2014 Opening Round.

BU prevented Southeastern from matching their best start in program history. The Fire came in riding a 25-game win streak to open the season, 26 dating to last year's National Championship Game win over Lewis-Clark State.

Bruin left-hander Blake Crippen (3-1) earned the win, giving the Fire fits as he limited one of the best offenses in the country to just two runs (one earned) on five hits in six innings or work.

Crippen gave way to Dustin Schorie who made his first appearance of the season. Schorie worked the final three innings, allowing a pair of runs on four hits while striking out three, to earn the save.

The top of the Bruin order wreaked havoc on the Fire pitching staff, combining to go 12-for-22 with six RBI and five runs scored. Each of the first five hitters had multiple hits with Brendan Luther and Logan Grant each finished 3-for-5.

Anthony Lind got the Bruins off to a strong start, singling home a pair of runs with two outs in the top of the first.

A Stephen Cullen ground ball scored a run for SEU in the second to cut the lead in half.

Bellevue quickly responded as Grant singled home a pair in the third. The Bruins threatened for more after a double steal put runners on second and third with nobody out but reliever Reese Wissinger worked his way out of trouble with a pair of punch outs and a runner being caught stealing at the plate.

Starter Darien Smith (5-1) took the loss for Southeastern after being charged with allowing four runs on seven hits in two innings of work.

The score remained 4-1 until Jose Marcano and Chayce Bryant each singled home a run in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to make it a one-run ballgame.

Wissinger exited in the seventh, giving way to Ryan Eiermann to face the top of the BU lineup. Eiermann worked out of the seventh and tossed a scoreless eighth before Mathieu Sirois led off the ninth with a solo shot to right-center.

David Mata came on in relief of Eiermann and CJ Townsend greeted him with a pinch-hit double before coming home to score on Jake Lacey's two-out bomb to give the Bruins a 7-3 lead.

Josh Pigozzo extended his hit streak to 16 games with a home run leading off the bottom of the ninth. Schorie worked around a one-out walk to strike out Bryant and induce first team All-American Gary Lora to ground out to second to end the game.

Bellevue held Southeastern to a season-low four runs. The Fire entered the game averaging 11.4 runs per game on the year and 16 per game over their past nine.

BU returns home to John Stella Field at Brown Park on Tuesday, Mar. 14 to host Park University in a 2 p.m. non-conference tilt.