Bruins complete NSAA sweep of Viterbo on Senior Day

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Derik Bontempo and Riley Baasch combined to go 13-for-14 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI on the day as the No. 4 Bellevue University baseball team swept a North Star Athletic Association double-header against Viterbo University at Sunday afternoon at Roddy Field. The Bruins won by scores of 18-6 and 9-3.

Between games Bellevue honored their 13 seniors – Miles Campbell, Joe Moran, Jake Browne, Derik Bontempo, Ben McKendall, Robbie Ayres, Todd Nicks, Blake Phelps, Anthony Contonio, John King,  Brett Franklin, Kameron Miner, and Teao Buehler – for their contributions to the program.

With their seventh and eighth victories in a row, Bellevue improves their overall record to 42-7 while boosting their mark in league play to 19-1. Viterbo falls to 10-32 overall and 8-12 in NSAA play as they have now lost five-straight.

BU returns to the diamond on Tuesday when they travel to Fremont, Neb. for a 5p.m. contest against Midland University.

Game One: Bellevue 18, Viterbo 6 (7 Inn.)

Riley Baasch was 4-for-4 with six RBI, including a fourth inning grand slam to break the game open, to lead Bellevue to an 18-5 win over Viterbo and clinch as series victory in Sunday's game one.

BU jumped out to a lead early with a five-run first inning. It started with a sac fly by Todd Nicks. Baasch followed that up with a two-run double before coming around to score on Moran's triple down the right field line. Diego Iribarren finished the scoring in the opening frame with an RBI-groundout.

The V-Hawks got two runs back in the second inning with run-scoring singles off the bats of Rowdy Yates and Adam Lowe to make it 5-2.

The third inning saw Viterbo strike for three more runs to tie the game at 5-5. Noah Bouley singled in two and DJ Wilson brought home the game-tying run.

BU didn't let the game stay tied for long as they plated another handful of runs in the home half of the third. Moran singled home a run, Campbell doubled in another before John King drove one in on a sac fly, and Derik Bontempo drove home two more with a double to right-center.

Bellevue roughed up reliever Preston Gamroth to the tune of eight runs courtesy of three hits, four walks, and a fielder's choice in the fourth inning to turn a 10-5 lead into an 18-5 advantage. The inning was capped by Baasch's grand slam, his fifth home run of the season.

Viterbo added a run in the seventh to account for the final margin.

Nicks (W, 9-2) didn't have his best stuff but muscled through five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits. He struck out four and walked four on the day.

Robbie Ayres, Brett Franklin, and Teao Buehler combined to throw two innings of relief to preserve the win.

Brian McGill (L, 2-4) was charged with the loss after surrendering 10 earned runs on eight hits and four walks over three innings.

Game Two: Bellevue 9, Viterbo 3

Derik Bontempo went deep twice and Todd Nicks added a home run as the Bellevue offense stayed hot in completing the sweep of Viterbo with a 9-3 win in the second game of Sunday's double-header.

Nicks put Bellevue on the board in the top of the first with a two-run home run to score Derik Bontempo who reached on a two-out infield single.

Riley Baasch's bat stayed hot when he lined a two-run double down the left field line to double the BU advantage. Two batters later Diego Iribarren singled home Baasch with two outs to make it 5-0 in favor of the host side.

Bontempo essentially put the game away in the bottom of the fourth inning with a three-run opposite field home run that stretched the BU lead to 8-0.

Viterbo had the leadoff runner on base in four of the first five innings but were unable to plate a run until the sixth inning and stranded nine runners on the game. Their first run came in the sixth after a throwing error following an infield single to cut the BU lead to 8-1.

Bontempo added an insurance run in the sixth with a line drive home run to right field to get back the run that the V-Hawks scored in the top half.

In the seventh, Brad Giss drove a home run over the right-center field fence for the V-Hawks to close the final margin to 9-3.

Bruin starter Zach Wilson (W, 7-1) earned the win with six strong innings on the bump, allowing just one unearned run. He struck out five and walked four while scattering five hits. David Mendez pitched the seventh to close the game.

Viterbo's Max Verdegan (L, 2-6) took the loss on the hill. He was charged with allowing eight runs on 11 hits over 3.1 innings of work.