MEXICO - With two swings of the bat last night, Rock Bridge center fielder Brandon Gerau showed Mexico why he was an all-state selection last season.

With two solid cuts at high fastballs, Gerau reminded Bruins Coach Justin Towe of how much power he has at the top of the lineup.

Gerau led off the first and second innings with towering solo home runs over the left-field fence to help lead the Bruins past the Bulldogs 11-2 in their season opener.

"I was not expecting it at all," Gerau admitted, laughing. "I just tried to make contact with the ball, but it came out better than I thought."

The senior leadoff hitter was ahead 2-0 in the count when Mexico’s Josh Price left a fastball up and over the plate. Gerau promptly deposited it onto the concrete path about 350 feet away. Price made the same mistake again in the second, and Gerau made him pay with another line-drive home run.

"I’d be lying if I told you that was unexpected," Towe said. "I expect him to hit the long ball here and there, because he’s got a pretty strong swing. When you’re a visitor and your first swing is a home run, that sends a message to the home team."

Rock Bridge plated four runs in each of the first two innings to chase Price. Erik Darkow lined a two-out, two-run single, and Jordan Nietzel homered to left field to tack on two more runs.

"One of our goals is to always make the first mark and then see how they respond," Towe said.

Mexico mustered three hits and struck out six times against Bruins starter Jaide Rose and reliever Jordan Adrian. Facing mercy-rule elimination with two outs in the fifth, the Bulldogs (1-5) rallied for two runs on three consecutive hits off Adrian. All-state third baseman Andrew Jurgesmeyer hit an RBI single, and Price followed with a run-scoring double.

"We’ve been giving up a lot of runs early in games, so to give up four runs in the first and second didn’t help our guys," Mexico Coach Keith Louder said. "I was pleased with how we competed and made a seven-inning game out of it."

With the top three spots in the starting rotation settled, Rose and junior lefty Nate Herndon are battling for the No. 4 position. Neither pitcher did anything to hurt his cause last night. Rose earned the win with three innings of one-hit ball, striking out three and walking one. Herndon pitched the final two innings, also allowing only one hit while fanning six batters.

Nietzel and catcher Micah Leipard had multi-hit games to complement Gerau’s three-hit performance.

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