OMAHA, Neb. -- The No. 5-ranked Bellevue University baseball team split a North Star Athletic Association double-header with Mayville State University on Friday afternoon at Brown Park, winning the opener 5-4 and falling 4-2 in the nightcap.
BU sees their overall record move to 36-7 and their NSAA mark to 20-2. MSU sees their record go to 17-19 and remain a game above .500 in conference play at 11-10.
Game One: BU 4, MSU 3
Logan Grant put the Bruins on the board in the first tomahawking a double off the right field fence to chase home Kanta Kobayashi who opened the inning by reaching on a leadoff single.
Mayville tied the game in the fifth with a pair of hits off the end of the bat. Tyler Ferrera started the rally with a one-out bloop hit to center before Adam Senden flared a ball just a bit deeper into center two batters later to tie the game.
The game remained tied 1-1 until the fifth when Conner Barnett hit into a bases loaded fielder's choice with one out but was ruled safe at first as neither umpire could determine where Senden kept his foot on the bag during a double play attempt.
Comet starter Kaito Farquharson worked 5.2 innings, holding Bellevue to just one earned run (two total) on four hits and four walks.
Nick Grade drew a bases loaded walk in the seventh to double the Bruin advantage.
Marcus Hughes drilled a two-run home run in the top of the eighth to tie the game up at 3-3 after Senden led off the frame with a base hit.
Bellevue starting pitcher Alexandro Celiceo was nearly untouchable for seven innings before running into some eighth inning trouble. In 7.2 he struck out eight and scattered seven hits leading to three MSU runs.
Tradd Richardson led off the home half with a base hit and pinch runner Takumi Maeno swiped second base ahead of Kobayashi's RBI-double to put the Bruins back in front.
Teron Williams (2-0) came on to record the final four outs, allowing just one hit to pick up the win.
Gregor Farquharson took the loss allowing two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of relief.
Game Two: BU 0, MSU 4, BU 0
Braxton Greenburg and Blake Crippen locked horns in a pitchers duel in game two.
Leadoff singles from Nick Grade in the second, Kanta Kobayashi in the third accounted for both of Bellevue's hits until the seventh.
The game remained scoreless until the fourth where Jared McCorrister launched a two run home run to right center to put the Comets in front, 2-0.
Mayville State tacked on two more in the fifth with a trio of base hits, scoring on a fielder's choice from Marcus Hughes and RBI-single by Carson Lundmark.
Facing a four-run deficit in the seventh, Anthony Lind and Drew Staley delivered base knocks to put runners on the corners with just one out. Mathieu Sirois drove in a run with a ground ball but it cost the Bruins their second out of the inning. Kobayashi followed with an RBI single to bring the tying run to the plate but Greenburg got Conner Barnett to fly out to end to the game.
Crippen (8-2) went the distance in the loss allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out six.
Greenburg (5-3) scattered five hits in the complete game victory for MSU and struck out six batters.
Up Next:
The series resumes tomorrow with a noon double-header. Between games of the double-header, Bellevue will honor its seven seniors in the annual Senior Day ceremonies.
