FOREST CITY, Iowa -- Behind a 27-hit afternoon the No. 13-ranked Bellevue University baseball team opened their third North Star Athletic Association series of the year with a pair of wins over Waldorf University to run their win streak to 11 games.
Bellevue took the opener 7-2 before securing a 12-8 win in the nightcap to improve to 22-9 overall and a perfect 10-0 in NSAA play. Waldorf slid four games below .500 at 11-15 and 1-5 in North Star action.
Game One: BU 7, Waldorf 2
Brendan Luther went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI and CJ Townsend extended his hitting streak to 17 games. Starter Blake Crippen (5-1) turned in a quality start, allowing just two runs on five hits over six innings of work and striking out four.
Bellevue wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning. Jake Lacey tripled to lead off the game and scored two batters later on a sac fly by Alec Ackerman.
Rylee Rauch quickly answered for Waldorf with a solo home run to center field leading off the home half of the first.
An infield single from Anthony Lind with the bases loaded put Bellevue back in front in the second inning. One batter later, Lacey ripped a ball down the third base link that Zach Meyer made a play on and recorded the unassisted out at third for a fielder's choice, however, Townsend was able to score on the play for a 3-1 BU lead.
The score remained there until the fifth when RBI-singles from Steven Elsner and Nick Grade sandwiched around a run-scoring triple from Luther saw the Bruins tack on three more runs for a 6-1 advantage.
Luther singled home another run with two outs in the sixth for a six-run cushion.
Waldorf scratched back a run in the sixth on a bloop single by Kolby Amaral to chase in Rauch.
Parker McMan set the Warriors down in order in the seventh as BU held on for the 7-2 victory.
Ryan Meyer (3-5) allowed six runs on 10 hits, walking two and striking out three, in five innings of work. Rauch accounted for three of Waldorf's five hits in the game.
Game Two: BU 12, Waldorf 8
Bellevue jumped all over Waldorf early, scoring five first inning runs, and never looked backed while Brendan Luther and Tradd Richardson each homered.
The Bruins saw their first five batters reach in the first with Logan Grant and Steven Elsner each singling home runs before a double from Luther. CJ Townsend added a sac fly to back starter Brady Toth.
Toth allowed a pair of first inning runs as the first three hitters all reached for the Warriors before a sac bunt call seemed to snuff out some potential momentum. Ryan Webster chased in a second run with a sac fly and BU lead 5-2 after a wild first.
Luther added to his RBI-spree with a three-run home run in the second and Townsend pushed his hitting streak to 18 games later in the frame, plating Nick Grade with a single to right center.
Toth settled in after the first, allowing a third inning sac fly while the Bruins pushed the lead to 11-3 in the fifth. Kolby Amaral got two runs back for Waldorf with a home run in the fifth as Toth finished the frame before handing the ball over to his bullpen.
Grade singled home a run in the sixth before Atticus Smith responded in the seventh with a solo blast.
Gavin Williams (0-0) allowed nine runs on eight hits in just two innings of work for Waldorf to take the loss.
Toth (4-2) recorded the victory with five innings of work allowing four earned on five hits and striking out five.
Jace Wessels worked three innings, keeping BU in front, allowing three run(s) on six hits and striking out four.
After four-straight base hits in the ninth, Cade Herrmann came on for Wessels and, working around a two-out walk, retired the side for his fourth save of the year.
Up Next:
The Bruins and Warriors wrap up their four-game series by playing another double-header tomorrow with first pitch is scheduled for noon.
