Bellevue sweeps Waldorf, wins series on Senior Day
The Bellevue University baseball team scored 42 runs on 40 hits as they swept Waldorf University in a North Star Athletic Association double-header to win the series on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Bellevue East High School’s Don Roddy Field.
BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University baseball team scored 42 runs on 40 hits as they swept Waldorf University in a North Star Athletic Association double-header to win the series on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Bellevue East High School's Don Roddy Field.
BU won game one by a score of 13-3 in seven innings before they took a 29-2 victory in the back end of the twin-bill.
Between games of the double-header Bellevue's 16 seniors – Brandon Salmon, Jordan Baughman, Reid Feeley, Austin Alexander, Lumus Russell, Blake Macdonald, Max Dwyer, Diego Iribarren, Hunter Robson, Colten Barnes, Dylan Thorp, Zach Wilson, Matt Evans, Hunter Kelly, Julian Rivera, and Junior Ramirez – were recognized for their contributions to the program.
Bellevue improves to 33-21 (17-5 NSAA) while Waldorf drops to 20-28 (13-9 NSAA) on the year.
Game One: Bellevue 13, Waldorf 3 (7 Innings)
Dylan Thorp struck out a season-high 12 batters and Bellevue pounded out 16 hits at BU topped Waldorf 13-3 in game three of the weekend series.
Waldorf got on the board first with a solo home run off the bat of Riley Macdonald before Bellevue responded by putting up five runs in the home half of the inning. The Bruin inning was highlighted by RBI-singles from Gary Dixon and Stuart Eurich as well as a three-run home run off the bat of Travis Tanaka.
Tanaka added two more RBI on a double in the second after a long solo shot from JT Patterson to center, one of his five hits on the ballgame.
A two-run double from Dixon in the third made it 10-1 for the Bruins. Brandon Sparks stretched the lead to 10 runs with a run-scoring single in the fifth.
Kyle Froom hit a two-run homer in the seventh to temporarily avoid the 10-run rule.
That was short-lived as Hunter Kelly launched a two-run bomb in the home half of the seventh to end the game.
Thorp worked six innings, scattering five hits and limiting Waldorf to just one run in quality start as he improved his record to 7-3 on the year.
Noah Welch (3-3) was hit with the loss for Waldorf after surrendering eight runs on nine hits in just two innings.
Game Two: Bellevue 29, Waldorf 2
Stuart Eurich posted a three-home run game and Bellevue set a (known) school-record with nine homers as a team. He came into the game with just two home runs on the season.
Bellevue hit three home runs in each of the first two innings gave Bellevue a 12-0 lead and they never looked back. Gary Dixon and Eurich went back-to-back in the first before Eurich and Travis Tanaka went back-to-back in the second.
BU tacked on four more runs in the third. Waldorf got on the board with a two-run double from Jimmy Quirk in the fourth.
Two runs in the fourth and 11 more in the fifth pushed BU's lead to 16 runs at 29-2.
Jarrod Molnaa (5-0) earned the win on the hill for Bellevue. Waldorf starter Mackenzie Pearson (3-7) took the loss.
Up Next:
Bellevue travels to North Dakota for next week's NSAA Tournament from May 4-8, co-hosted by Valley City State University and the University of Jamestown. Brackets and game times will be announced following this weekend's games.
