OMAHA, Neb. -- After seeing their 14-game win streak halted earlier in the week, the No. 9-ranked Bellevue University baseball team bounced back with a pair of victories over Dickinson State University on Saturday afternoon in North Star Athletic Association play.
The Bruins clawed their way to wins of 7-2 in the opener and 6-3 in the nightcap, respectively. With the victories, BU improves to 23-5 overall while remaining perfect in NSAA play at 10-0.
Dickinson State slips to 12-17 overall and 4-6 in league play. The Blue Hawks have now dropped four-straight overall.
Game One: BU 7, DSU 2
Pitching dominated the early going in the opener despite Cade Ostenson staking Dickinson to a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the first.
Logan Grant drew a bases loaded walk in the third to tie the game but neither offense would strike again until the sixth.
Balas Buckmaster put DSU back on top with an infield single in the top of the sixth while the Bruins had managed just one hit to that point.
Bellevue answered with three runs in the home half despite just one hit. The Bruins drew three walks and had a hit batter in the frame. Nick Grade drove in a run with an infield single to tie the game before a pitching change saw DSU call on regular game two starter Richie Cortese to enter from the bullpen.
Later in the frame, Mathieu Sirois drew a walk and Kanta Kobayashi was hit by a pitch, each with the bases loaded, to put the Bruins on top, 4-2.
Bruin starter Alexandro Celiceo worked a scoreless seventh, his final inning, before handing the ball over to Parker McMan in the eighth.
Celiceo (6-1) earned the win, scattering six hits over seven innings of work in which he struck out nine. McMan worked two scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save of the season.
Back-to-back doubles from Grade and Tradd Richardson to open the eighth provided some insurance. Kobayashi added to the lead with a sac fly and Conner Barnett chased in another run with a ground ball.
The win was Celiceo's 20th career victory, as he became the sixth pitcher in BU history to reach the 20-win mark.
Kobe Krenz (3-4) took the loss, allowing four runs on two hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out six but was haunted by seven walks.
Game Two: BU 6, DSU 3
Blake Crippen worked around a two-run second inning to deliver the Bruins a quality start in game two, earning his seventh win of the season. In six innings, the southpaw scattered eight hits and struck out four.
Bellevue struck first as Logan Grant scored Conner Barnett with a sac fly in the home half of the first.
A run-scoring double by Kael Richards and an RBI-single from Keanu Calamayan turned a one-run deficit into a 2-1 lead for the Blue Hawks.
Dickinson pitching kept the visitors in front until the fourth when Anthony Lind and Drew Staley each drove solo shots over the left field fence.
Jake Lacey provided some breathing room with a two-run shot to left center in the fifth for a 5-2 BU lead.
After Cade Ostenson cut the Bruin lead to two with a sac fly, Kanta Kobayashi brought home another run with an RBI-groundout.
Teron Williams struck out a pair in a scoreless seventh inning to pick up his third save of the year.
Cooper Van Luchene (0-1) took the loss for Dickinson, allowing a pair of runs on three hits in two innings of work out of the bullpen.
Up Next:
The Bruins and Blue Hawks conclude their four-game series tomorrow with first pitch of a double-header set for noon from John Stella Field at Brown Park.
