OMAHA, Neb. -- Alexandro Celiceo fired eight shutout innings in the opener and the Bruin offense scored 18 runs in game two as the No. 11-ranked Bellevue University baseball team swept Valley City State University in Saturday's double-header to take the first two games of the NSAA series from John Stella Field at Brown Park.
Bellevue, winners of six-straight, improves to 19-7 and a perfect 6-0 in NSAA play while Valley City slips to .500 at 12-12 overall and 3-3 in league action.
Josh Vaughan gave starter Alexandro Celiceo all the offense he would need with an RBI-groundout in the second inning.
Celiceo (1-1) was spectacular on the hill in his first start of the season for BU. The right-hander scattered eight hits across eight scoreless innings and seemed to get better with runners on base. He struck out a career-best 12 and issued just one walk.
With the score 1-0 into the fourth, Bellevue looked to create some separation. Alec Ackerman led off with a single through the right side and advanced to third on a double from Alex Stufft. A pair of pop outs gave the Vikings a chance to escape the inning unharmed but back-to-back doubles from Zach Diehl and Andrew Ishii put BU ahead 4-0.
The Bruins tacked on some insurance in the eighth with Diehl plating a run on a sac fly and CJ Townsend singling home another for a 6-0 lead.
Charlie Patterson struck out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth to nail down the victory.
Dustin Mertz (3-4) and Drew Nixon (2-4) accounted for five of VCSU's eight hits in the ballgame.
Marcus Niemann (1-1) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on six hits over six innings of work.
Ishii finished 3-for-4 and Vaughan notched a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4, while Stufft scored three runs and Diehl drove in three.
Kanta Kobayashi and Mathieu Sirois led a 16-hit effort with three knocks apiece, the former scoring a season-high five runs, as five Bruins recorded multi-hit games.
Sirois, Zach Diehl, and CJ Townsend each homered in the game. For Sirois, it was his third of the year while Diehl and Townsend each went deep for the first time.
Bellevue opened the scoring with a three-run first inning. Conner Barnett singled home Kobayashi after a leadoff double before scoring himself on a bases loaded walk to Tradd Richardson, and Diehl drove home a run on a sac fly.
VCSU answered with three of their own in the second as the first four runners of the inning all reached off Bruin starter Elijah Johnson. Ryan Reynolds delivered a two-run single and Adam Thompson singled home another run.
A five-run second by BU, highlighted by Sirois' majestic three-run home run – and similarly impressive bat flip – gave the Bruins an 8-3 lead and seemingly took the wind out of the Vikings' sails.
A run in the third and two more in the fifth had Bellevue ahead 11-3 after four and Townsend dealt an emphatic dagger with a grand slam in the fifth, his first collegiate long ball.
It was the first time this season Johnson allowed four baserunners in an inning. Johnson (6-1) would settle in the rest of the way as he did not allow another run or hit in five innings of work despite six walks on the afternoon. He finished with nine strikeouts before giving way to the bullpen.
Jace Hanson (0-1) took the loss, allowing five runs on three hits and three walks in 1.1 innings of work.
Up Next:
Bellevue and Valley City close out their four-game set tomorrow with a noon double-header from John Stella Field at Brown Park.