OMAHA, Neb. -- Five Bruins homered on the afternoon as the No. 15-ranked Bellevue University baseball team swept Valley City State University in a double-header to open North Star Athletic Association play for both schools.
Bellevue won a back-and-forth opener 7-4 before hanging on for a 10-6 win in game two to improve to 13-9 overall and begin conference play 2-0 for the _-straight season.
Valley City slips to 8-15 on the year and opens the league slate at 0-2.
Game One: BU 7, VCSU 4
A pair of solo home runs from Brendan Luther and Anthony Lind in the second and third, respectively, staked the Bruins to an early 2-0 lead behind game one starter Dustin Schorie.
Schorie was virtually untouchable through the first three innings, striking out five without allowing a hit. Jamel Chabot broke up the no-hit bid in the fourth with a single through the right side to halve the deficit.
Bellevue answered with a safety squeeze from CJ Townsend in the home half before VCSU scratched out another run in the fifth.
Each of the first three batters reached in the sixth for Valley City as the Vikings scored twice in the frame despite just one hard hit ball to take their first lead of the day, 4-3. Schorie departed, after loading the bases a second time, in favor of Teron Williams who got Tory Nelson to line out softly to second to end the frame.
The Bruin bats, which had been quiet against starter Hunter Magnuson since the home run in the third, cracked out three hits in the home half of the sixth. Nick Grade and Anthony Lind each delivered two-run singles to put the Bruins back on top 7-4.
Williams (1-0) worked around a two-out double in the seventh to secure the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Magnuson (2-2) took the loss for the Vikings. He was charged with allowing seven runs on eight hits and four walks over 5.1 innings of work.
Schorie struck out a season-high eight across 5.2 innings for Bellevue. He allowed four runs on six hits, a pair of walks, and three hit batters.
Game Two: BU 10, VCSU 6
Brady Toth allowed just two hits over his first six innings of work to back while getting nine runs of support from his offense.
Khalil Tilbury matched him nearly pitch-for-pitch over the first four innings with the only blemish coming on Steven Elsner's two-out, run-scoring double in the fourth.
The bottom of the Bruin order seemed to figure Tilbury out as CJ Townsend was hit by a pitch and Anthony Lind singled to put runners on the corners with one out in the fifth. Lind stole second and Townsend trotted home after the low throw that skipped into second and was unable to be picked up clean. A walk to Jake Lacey and a bunt single from Logan Grant loaded the bases ahead of Alec Ackerman who lined a home run off the batter's eye in center as BU took a 6-0 lead.
Bellevue struck for three more in the sixth, including a two-run shot to right-center from Grant to chase Tilbury from the game.
Judson Seliskar doubled home two runs in the seventh to get the Vikings on the board.
A pair of singles to open the eighth spelled the end of the night for Toth. Both would come around to score later in the frame as Valley struck for four runs to pull within 9-6.
Tyler Monroe quelled the momentum with a solo shot to left center leading off the bottom of the eighth and the Bruins turned to closer Cade Herrmann for the ninth.
Herrmann got ahead of Daegen Morcom 0-2 but before issuing a leadoff walk but bounced back by sandwiching a pair of ground balls around a strikeout to close out the victory.
Toth (2-2) collected the win, allowing four runs and scattering six hits across seven solid innings of work. Jace Wessels – who came on for Toth in the eighth – allowed his first runs of the season.
Tilbury (2-3) took the loss for the Vikings, yielding six earned runs (nine total) on nine hits in 5.2 innings of work. Jarrett Faue logged the final 2.1 for VCSU, allowing a run on two hits.
Up Next:
The Bruins and Vikings wrap up their series with a noon double-header tomorrow from John Stella Field at Brown Park.
