BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The SBU Bearcats beat Rockhurst, 10-7, in their home opener to collect their first win on the year.

"We needed this win," said coach Sam Berg after the game. "We had some clutch hits from the bottom of our lineup. Brendon (Cox) hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat with SBU, and Kyle Tormanen had a big three-run shot to push the lead to seven." Cox's home run in the second inning gave the Bearcats a 4-1 lead, while Tormanen's homer in the seventh gave SBU a big enough lead to withstand Rockhurst's comeback attempt in the ninth.

"Greg (Seay) had a good outing also," said Berg. Seay allowed only one unearned run through five innings in his second start this year.

Justin Barnhart had another big day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a solo home run in the second inning. Barnhart also collected three stolen bases, and a pair of RBIs.

With the win, SBU moves to 1-4 on the season, and coach Berg still sees room for improvement. "We had better hitting today, but we're still striking out too much. We need to work on extending our innings, while doing a better job of closing out their innings."

The Bearcats host Minnesota State-Mankato this Friday and Saturday, with a pair of double-headers, both starting at noon.

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