ABERDEEN, S.D. -- McGrane Pledger struck out a season-high 18 batters in game one and Graham Cahill fired a no-hitter in game two as the No. 25 Bellevue University baseball team swept Presentation College in a North Star Athletic Association double-header on Friday afternoon at PC's Fossum Field. The Bruins won the opener by a score of 9-0 before going onto a 8-0 triumph in the nightcap.
Bellevue improves to 29-11 (11-3 NSAA) on the year while the Saints fall to 7-36 (3-18).
Game One: BU 9, PC 0
Bellevue staked starting pitcher McGrane Pledger to a 3-0 first inning lead, which would be more than enough support for the Bruin right-hander.
Pledger (3-2) was nearly unhittable on the hill for the Bruins. He spun a complete game, two-hit shutout while striking out a season-high 18 batters. The 18 punch-outs from Pledger are the most by a BU pitcher this season and the second-highest single game total in program history.
Trent Williams accounted for both PC base hits, delivering singles in both the fourth and ninth innings.
Josh Vaughan finished a home run short of a cycle for Bellevue driving in runs with a first inning double, third inning triple, and ninth inning single.
Chaz Lopez also drove in three runs for Bellevue with a two-run single in the first and a sac fly in the ninth.
In addition to Vaughan, Cody Banks recorded a three-hit game, while Conner Barnett and Riley Baasch joined Lopez with two-hit games.
Gavin Lim (1-6) took the loss for Presentation. He allowed six runs on nine hits in six innings of work.
Game Two: BU 8, PC 0
Graham Cahill backed up one dominating pitching performance with another impressive one as he spun a no-hitter in Bellevue's 8-0 win over Presentation.
Cahill struck out nine batters and did not issue a walk as he improved to 4-1 on the hill.
The Saints managed just two base-runners in the game; Tyler Austin reached on a wild pitch strike three to lead off the bottom of the first and Evyn Booth reached on an error in the fifth.
Josh Vaughan recorded a four-hit game and was joined by Cody Banks (3 hits) and Riley Baasch (2 hits) as multi-hit performers.
Banks and Vaughan provided run-scoring singles in a three-run top of the first.
Bellevue pushed the lead to 6-0 by the third with a second inning RBI-double by Brenton Davis and a two-run single off the bat of Alec Lee in the third.
Zach Diehl drove in another run with a sac fly in the fifth before Conner Barnett chased home Chaz Lopez with a base-hit.
Francisco Avena (2-1) took the loss for PC, allowing six runs on 10 hits in four innings of work.
Recap:
The Bruins and Saints finished up their four-game set tomorrow with a double-header scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
