OMAHA, Neb. -- The Bruins used the long ball in game one before eking out a pitcher's duel in game two as the Bellevue University baseball team swept Viterbo University in a North Star Athletic Association double-header on Saturday afternoon.
Bellevue improves to 36-11 overall and 21-1 in conference play while the V-Hawks slide to 10-36 and 9-13 in the NSAA.
Game One: BU 10, Viterbo 5
Steven Elsner homered twice as Bellevue went yard five times to power their way to a 10-5 win over the V-Hawks.
Spencer Hans gave the V-Hawks an early lead with a squeeze in the top of the first.
Bellevue answered in the second, scoring three times off a solo shot from Anthony Lind and a two-run blast by Nick Grade.
A Brett Stuessel grounder plated a Viterbo run in the third and Blake Warner tied the game with a solo homer later in the frame.
Logan Grant and Elsner each delivered two-run bombs in the bottom of the third as Bellevue charged back in front.
Elsner's home run marks the third successive season in which Bellevue has a pair of teammates (Elsner and Grant) with 15-plus long balls.
A dropped fly ball in the fourth that would have ended the inning allowed Viterbo to score a run and Ryan Mesa's single chased in a second unearned run to cut the BU lead to 7-5.
Elsner provided a loud response for the Bruins in the fourth, with a three-run jolt to close out the scoring.
Bruin starter Brock Townsend retired the side in order in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to lock down the win as he set down the final 10 batters her faced. Townsend (4-2) struck out five in a complete game effort.
V-Hawk ace Cale Beckman (3-5) allowed seven runs on eight hits in just three innings of work.
Game Two: BU 2, Viterbo 1
Anthony Lind's check swing base hit in the first scored a pair of runs, enough to support a quality start from right-hander Brady Toth.
The Bruins put their first three runners of the game on and Lind blooped a 1-2 pitch along the right field line to score Jake Lacey and Logan Grant with the game's first runs.
Viterbo southpaw Anthony Sanchez and Bruin right-hander Toth were outstanding on the day as the teams combined for just six hits over the next six innings.
Neither team scored again until a two-out single in the eighth by Marcus Hornacek played Brett Stuessel to halve the Viterbo deficit, 2-1. Teron Williams came on in relief and struck out Kory Sontag to end the innings.
Bellevue threatened in the seventh as Tradd Richardson hit a ball deep into the right-center gap which looked to score Nick Grade from first but the ball bounced over the wall for a rulebook double. After getting ahead 3-0, Lacey drew an intentional walk and Grant was called out on strikes to end the inning.
After Bellevue left a runner in scoring position in the eighth, Williams sandwiched a ground ball out between a pair of strikeouts to nail down his second save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Sanchez (1-7) struck out eight in seven innings of five-hit ball but took the tough luck loss.
Toth (5-2) fired seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing just five hits, in his first start since Apr. 9 at Midland.
Up Next:
Bellevue and Viterbo will attempt to wrap up their four-game set tomorrow with a 2 p.m. double-header from John Stella Field at Brown Park.
