OMAHA, Neb. -- Powered by 15 extra-base hits, the Bellevue University baseball team scored 33 runs on the day to sweep York College, 11-10 and 22-1, in non-conference play to open the 2022 season.
Andrew Ishii's first home run of the season, a sixth inning grand slam, saw the Bruins rally from 10-3 down to tie the game at 10-all. BU rode the momentum to put runners on first and second with two outs before Tradd Richardson came through with the go-ahead single through the hole on the left side.
Kayleb Sanderson got the season-opening nod on the hill for the Bruins, making his first appearance since March 8, 2020, struggled with command and was chased after 2.1 innings, trailing 8-2.
Charlie Patterson (1-0) came on and after surrendering a pair of fence-scraping solo homers in the fourth, settled in to retire 11 of the final 12 batters he faced, and just as importantly kept BU within striking distance.
Bellevue scored three in the fourth to start their comeback. Kanta Kobayashi singled home Alex Stufft with one out. Conner Barnett scored Zach Diehl on a sac fly and Alec Ackerman brought home pinch-runner Brenton Davis with a two-out single through the left side.
The score remained 10-6 into the bottom of the sixth when the first three Bruins reached ahead of Ishii's game-changing slam. After York recorded the first out, Josh Vaughan singled and advanced to second on a walk to Diehl before Richardson came through with the game-winning RBI.
Bellevue jumped all over York starter Gage Davis (0-1), chasing the southpaw before he was able to record an out. Walks to Kanta Kobayashi and Alec Ackerman, sandwiched around a hit-and-run single from Conner Barnett, paved the way for Mathieu Sirois to open the scoring with a majestic grand slam down the left field line before Andrew Ishii made it back-to-back jacks and a 5-0 BU lead.
That was more than enough support for starter Elijah Johnson's (1-0) whose lone blemish was allowing a solo home run to Ian Heck in the fifth. Johnson, who took a perfect game into the fifth, was otherwise in control, striking out 10 and inducing five ground ball outs in five sparkling innings of work.
A four-run second and another run in the third stretched the lead to 10-0. Leading 13-0 in the fourth, Sirois and Ishii again went back-to-back with Sirois launching a three-run shot as the lead swelled to 17-0.
A two-run shot from Cade Sakamoto and a three-run homer by Hayden Williamson in the sixth provided the final margin.
McGrane Pledger and Alexandro Celiceo each fired scoreless innings of relief as the duo got in their first work of the season.
Up Next:
Bellevue travels to Oklahoma City, Okla. next weekend for three games at Oklahoma City University's Jim Wade Stadium. The Bruins face #9 Oklahoma Wesleyan and hosts #20 Oklahoma City Saturday at 12:30 and 3 p.m. before wrapping up their trip with a noon tilt against OCU on Sunday.
