LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The Bellevue University baseball team scored 30 runs in Saturday's double-header to secure a North Star Athletic Association series sweep of Viterbo University.
Bellevue won the opener 14-1 to clinch the series victory before going on to earn the sweep with a 16-5 triumph in the nightcap.
Bellevue improves to 24-10 overall (6-2 NSAA) and moves a game atop of the conference standings while Viterbo falls to 8-13 (3-5 NSAA), three games back.
Game One: BU 14, Viterbo 1
Graham Cahill (3-1) fired six quality innings on the hill and Josh Vaughan went 3-for-4 at the dishing, totaling five RBI to lead the Bruins to a comfortable victory. Cody Banks was also 3-for-4 in the win, registering a pair of RBI.
Vaughan provided all the support Cahill needed in the early going with a two-run double in the first and a two-run homer in the third as BU grabbed a 4-0 lead early on.
Darrian Escobar-Winter singled home the lone Viterbo run in the fourth to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Bellevue answered by scoring eight runs in the fifth as 12 batters came to the dish. With five runs already in, Alec Lee drove a bases clearing double to right-center to make it a 12-1 game.
Banks added a two-run single in the sixth to account for the final margin and Bailey Link pitched around a leadoff error to strike out the side in a scoreless seventh.
Damon Lukaszewski allowed eight runs on four hits and four walks in 4.1 innings to take the loss for the V-Hawks.
Game Two: BU 16, Viterbo 5
Chaz Lopez finished a single short of the cycle and Brenton Davis homered twice as the Bruins continued their hot hitting from game one. BU totaled 12 extra-base hits in the game, including five home runs and Riley Baasch's school-record 55th career double.
Bellevue quickly staked themselves to a 6-0 lead, scoring twice in the first with back-to-back RBI-doubles and adding four more in the second on three long balls from Lopez, Davis, and Cody Banks.
Four pitchers saw work in the ball game for the Bruins and combined to allow just two hits. Elijah Johnson earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief.
Viterbo cut the lead in a half with a three-run bottom of the second before Daniel Teasley got one back for the Bruins, singling home a run in the third, to make it 7-3.
The score remained 7-3 until Bellevue erupted for a seven-run sixth inning to put it out of reach.
The V-Hawks scored three times in the bottom of the sixth before Nic Metcalf put the exclamation mark on the victory with a two-run homer in the seventh.
Kyle Gilbertson took the loss for Viterbo after being tagged for six runs on six hits in just two innings of work.
Up Next:
Bellevue hosts Dakota State (12-11/5-3 NSAA) on Tuesday, Apr. 6 for a North Star double-header scheduled for 3 p.m. from John Stella Field at Brown Park.