OMAHA, Neb. -- On the strength of 30 hits the Bellevue University baseball team swept Viterbo University on Saturday afternoon in a North Star Athletic Association double-header at John Stella Field at Brown Park.
Bellevue took the opener by a score of 16-3 in eight innings before going on to a 12-1 win in the nightcap.
With the sweep Bellevue improves to 27-19 on the year and 12-4 in NSAA play. Viterbo falls to 10-33 overall and dips below .500 in league play at 7-8.
Game One: Bellevue 16, Viterbo 3 (8 Innings)
Bellevue turned a one-run game on end by scoring 12 runs on six hits in the seventh and eighth innings as they picked up a 16-3 win in game one of Saturday evening's double-header.
Kory Longaker and JT Patter each recorded three-hit games for BU while Riley Baasch, Austin Alexander, Blake Macdonald, and Matt Evans each added multi-hit efforts.
Baasch put the Bruins in the first inning with a towering home run, his 11th of the season.
Viterbo immediately responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning
The Bruins clawed across another run in the fourth to pull to within a run at 3-2.
Gary Dixon tied the game for the Bruins with a sac fly in the fifth to plate Patterson from third base. Macdonald followed with a single that hopped over the diving third baseman to score Baasch giving BU their first lead since the first.
The Bruins busted the game open with a seven-run seventh inning and added five more in the eighth to bring about the 10-run rule.
Reid Feeley (5-2) worked seven quality innings to pick up the victory. After a three-run first the senior settled down and faced just four batters over the minimum the rest of the way. He finished with nine strikeouts against three walks.
Colton Andresen (2-5) was hit with the loss after surrendering four runs on nine hits in six innings of work.
Game Two: Bellevue 12, Viterbo 1
Bellevue again broke open the game late with a four-run sixth inning as the picked up a 12-1 win over Viterbo as the Bruins earned the double-header sweep on Saturday.
Matt Evans put BU on the board first with a base hit on a 3-2 count. The runners on first and second were off with the pitch and both scored on the single for an early 2-0 lead.
The Bruins added on four runs in the fourth with the aid of three throwing errors, one from each Viterbo outfielder.
Viterbo answered with a run in the sixth on an RBI-groundout by Joe Cliver.
A two-run home run from JT Patterson stretched the Bruin lead to 8-1 in the sixth before BU pushed across a couple more on an error and a Julian Rivera RBI-single.
Bellevue capped the scoring with two more runs in the seventh.
Stephen Knapp (5-1) picked up the win as he held the V-Hawks to just one run on five hits in six innings on the hill.
Kyle Gilbertson (4-5) took the loss for Viterbo. He was chased in the fifth, allowing six runs on eight hits.
Up Next:
Bellevue and Viterbo will wrap up their series tomorrow afternoon with a 1 p.m. double-header at Don Roddy Field on the campus of Bellevue East High School.
