Bruins shut out Central Christian, 7-0, 4-0

Kody McFarland tossed a one-hitter with no walks and 12 strikeouts in the 4-0 win in the nightcap.
Kody McFarland tossed a one-hitter with no walks and 12 strikeouts in the 4-0 win in the nightcap.

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | MCAC Standings

OMAHA, Neb. - The 10th-ranked Bellevue University baseball team used solid pitching performances from Ricky Holm and Kody McFarland to record a pair of shutouts against Central Christian College Saturday afternoon at Westgate Field in Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference action. The Bruins took the opener 7-0, before posting a 4-0 win in the series finale.

The two pitchers allowed just four hits on the day. 

The Bruins improved to 33-6-1 on the season and 14-2 in the MCAC and have won seven-straight games. Central Christian fell to 13-32 overall and 3-17 in league play. 

Bellevue will welcome Oklahoma Wesleyan University to Westgate Field next Friday-Saturday, April 19-20 for a four-game conference series. Both doubleheaders are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.

Game 1: Bellevue 7, Central Christian 0

The Bruins outhit CCC, 14-4 and took advantage of two wild pitches and three errors while cruising to the 7-0 win in the opener.  

Dusty Kerns went 4-for-5 with two doubles, one RBI, and one run scored to lead the BU offense. 

Bellevue scored four runs on five hits in the second inning. BU scored the first two runs on a throwing error and wild pitch before Ryan Knutz registered a sacrifice fly and Kyle Kinman added an RBI single.

BU recorded its fifth run of the game on a wild pitch that allowed Andy Smolinski to cross home plate in the third.

An RBI single by Nate Mullins and a one-run double by Kerns increased the lead to 7-0 in the sixth. 

Holm emained undefeated, improving to 7-0 on the season, allowing three hits and two walks, while striking out a season-high 15 batters in eight innings of work.

Andrew Hightower (2-4) took the loss for CCC, allowing five runs on nine hits in three innings.

Game 2: Bellevue 4, Central Christian 0

McFarland tossed a one-hitter as Bellevue closed out the series with a 4-0 shutout in the finale. 

The Bruins got RBIs from Tanner Moore, Mullins, Dan Smolinski, and Beau Dahmen in the victory. 

A pair of RBI singles by D. Smolinski and Dahmen gave the Bruins an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second frame. 

A ground-out RBI by Moore scored Knutz to push the lead to 3-0 in the third. 

Mullins drove in Kinman in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single to left field to give BU a 4-0 edge.

The Tigers ruined McFarland's no-hitter when Drew Schiesser opened the seventh inning with a single down the left field line. McFarland, however, closed out the game with two strikeouts to improve to 5-1 on the season. McFarland allowed just one hit with no walks, while striking out 12 in seven innings on the mound.