NSAA Standings
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. -- The fourth-ranked Bellevue University baseball team allowed just one run on the day as the Bruins swept Viterbo University in a North Star Athletic Association doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Westgate Field. The Bruins won by scores of 12-0 and 5-1.
Bellevue improved to 40-7 on the season and 17-1 in the NSAA. Viterbo fell to 10-30 overall and 8-10 in league play.
The two teams will conclude the four-game series with a noon doubleheader tomorrow (April 23) at Roddy Field in Bellevue.
Game 1: Bellevue 12, Viterbo 0
Bellevue scored 11 runs in the second and third innings and out-hit the V-Hawks, 13-5, en route to the 12-0 shutout victory in the opener. Derik Bontempo and Hunter Kelly each drove in three runs to pace the BU offense.
The Bruins erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a three-run double to right field by Kelly, a two-run double to left-center by Matt Evans and an RBI bunt single by Jake Browne.
A three-run homer by Bontempo and an RBI single to center by Browne made it 11-0 in the bottom of the third.
Miles Campbell scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead the 12-0 in the bottom of the fourth frame.
Ben McKendall improved to 7-0 on the season, scattering five hits with five walks and four strikeouts in six innings of work. John Costello was tagged with the loss, giving up seven runs on eight hits and two walks in two innings on the mound.
Game 2: Bellevue 5, Viterbo 1
The solid pitching of Colten Barnes and Anthony Contonio, combined with 11 Bruin hits lifted BU to the 5-1 win in the nightcap.
Joe Moran's RBI single through the right side scored Kelly giving BU a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Todd Nicks' RBI single up the middle plated Evans extending the advantage to 2-0 in the bottom of the third.
The V-Hawks scored their only run of the day on a sacrifice fly to right field by Ethan Bell, slicing the lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth.
The Bruins responded in the bottom of the fourth, scoring on Diego Iribarren's RBI double down the right-field line. Iribarren later scored off a wild pitch to give BU a 4-1 lead.
Miles Campbell's solo homer to left field increased the Bruin advantage to 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Barnes (7-2) earned the win, allowing two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in six innings of work. Contonio closed out the game in the seventh, forcing a ground out and ending the contest with two-straight strikeouts.
Wyatt Cook (0-2) suffered the loss, giving up 10 hits with no walks and two strikeouts in five innings on the mound.
