Bruins use long balls to power past Clarke

Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)

OMAHA, Neb. -- Bruin hitters launched four home runs as the Bellevue University baseball team swept a non-conference double-header against Clarke University on Tuesday afternoon at John Stella Field at Brown Park.

Bellevue took the opener by a score of 6-2 before blanking the Pride in the nightcap by a 7-0 final.

With nine wins in their past 12 games Bellevue moves over the .500 mark at 16-14 while Clarke has dropped four-straight to fall to 9-16 on the year.

Up Next:

Bellevue hosts Mayville State and Dickinson State for NSAA games later this week while MSU and DiSU will play each other as well.

• Thursday: Mayville State at Bellevue, 3 p.m. DH at Brown Park
• Friday: Mayville State vs. Dickinson State, 1 p.m. DH at Bellevue West HS
• Saturday: Dickinson State at Bellevue, 1 p.m. 9-Inning Game at Brown Park

Game One: Bellevue 6, Clarke 2

Riley Baasch broke open a tight game with a two-run dinger in the Bruins' three-run fifth as Bellevue pulled away from Clarke in the opener.

Kevin Hunley led off the game with his first home run of the season – after hitting 18 bombs last year – on a 3-0 fastball to give Clarke the early advantage.

Bellevue struck back with two runs in the home half of the frame courtesy of a two-run single from Baasch.

The score stayed 2-1 into the fifth when John Collins hit a sac fly to score Hunley and tie the game.

Pinch-hitter Lumus Russell restored the BU lead with a sac fly of his own in the fifth that scored Matt Evans following a botched suicide squeeze in which the Pride failed to get an out. Baasch made Clarke pay further with a towering two-out, two-run home run to left-center to make it 5-2 for the home-standing Bruins.

Diego Iribarren tacked on an insurance run in the sixth when he singled home JT Patterson.

Colten Barnes (2-4) threw 2.1 hitless innings of relief to pick up his second win of the year. He came on for Brandon Desjardins in the fifth after Desjardins allowed a run and loaded the bases with two outs. Desjardins final line showed 4.2 innings of work in which he allowed two runs on three hits and five walks while striking out four.

Jakob Kirman got the start and threw four effective innings, limiting BU to two runs on three hits and striking out six batters. Dustin Oliver (0-1) was charged with the loss after allowing a pair of runs and retiring just one batter.

Game Two: Bellevue 7, Clarke 0

Gary Dixon hit two of Bellevue's three home runs in the nightcap while Junior Ramirez and Zach Wilson combined on a four-hit shutout.

Ramirez (1-1) earned the win by scattering three hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked four. Wilson worked a scoreless seventh to preserve the shutout.

Building on his strong game in the opener Riley Baasch put the Bruins on the board with a sac fly to kick-start a five-run third inning. JT Patterson followed with an RBI-single to right-center ahead of Dixon's first home run of the game, a three-run shot off the safety rail in left.

BU added two more runs in the fifth when Patterson and Dixon launched back-to-back jacks to push the lead to 7-0.

Tsubasa Maruyama (2-2) took the loss for Clarke after being charged with allowing five runs in just 2.1 innings on the hill.