Jackson strikes out NAIA-high 21; BU splits with Waldorf

NSAA Standings

OMAHA, Neb. -- Corey Jackson struck out 21 batters and Josh Vaughan hit a pair of home runs in the opener as the Bellevue University baseball team split a North Star Athletic Association double-header with Waldorf University on Saturday afternoon at John Stella Field at Brown Park. The Bruins won the opener 11-6 before falling 10-7 in the nightcap.

Bellevue sees their record move to 32-14 overall and 13-5 in NSAA play while Waldorf now stands at 20-26 (13-12 NSAA) on the year.

Game One: BU 11, Waldorf 6

Corey Jackson made a pair of mistakes that turned into three-run home runs off the bat of Jack Muhleck to spot the Warriors a 6-0 lead but was otherwise nearly unhittable as the Canadian right-hander fanned an NAIA season-high 21 batters.

Trailing 6-0 entering the bottom of the third, Bellevue scored the final 11 runs of the ball game to complete the comeback victory.

Back-to-back RBI-doubles off the bats of Conner Barnett and Cody Banks preceded a run-scoring single from Vaughan and Chaz Lopez capped a five-run third with a two-run rule book double to right.

Vaughan put BU ahead with a two-run home run to left in the fifth and pushed the lead to 9-6 with another two-run shot in the seventh.

Bellevue added insurance runs in the eighth with and RBI-single from Banks and a run-scoring ground out from Lopez to provide the final margin.

Jackson earned the complete game victory with a final line of six runs on five hits and three hit batters. With the 21 punch outs, Jackson vaulted from 11^th to third on the Bruins strikeout list and is now just five away from the program's single-season record.

Heath Chapman (6-3) took the loss for Waldorf, allowing eight earned runs – nine total – on 10 hits, three walks, and four hit batsmen while striking out four over seven innings.

Game Two: Waldorf 10, BU 7

Waldorf used a six-run third inning to get the jump on Bellevue en route to earning the split. The inning started innocently enough with just one of the first three hitters reaching before the Warriors found some two-out magic.

Justin Nock singled home the first run and advanced to third on a double by Jack Muhleck. TarQuin Daley was hit by a pitch to lead the bases for Thomas Capllonch who drove an outside pitch off the face of the scoreboard for a grand slam. Davis Churchman made it back-to-back homers with a shot to left-center.

Bellevue got two runs back in the home half of the frame on a single from Josh Vaughan but RBI-singles from Alejandro Gonzalez and Daley in the fourth pushed the Waldorf lead back to six, 8-2.

Conner Barnett singled home a run in the sixth in between robbing home runs in both the fifth and seventh innings.

Waldorf scored twice in the seventh. The Warriors received an RBI-grounder from Sergio Olivares after an appeal at second that would have ended the inning was denied and a solo home run from Dusty Rogers one batter later.

Bellevue tried to mount a rally in the home half of the seventh, scoring four times. Chaz Lopez provided a sac fly and pinch-hitter Grant Guse reached on an infield single to chase another run before scoring on Rigo Duarte's two-run shot to left.

Graham Cahill (4-2) took the loss. He was chased after allowing eight runs on nine hits in three-plus innings of work.

David Calderon-Tatis struck out nine while limiting BU to three runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings of work to get the win and improve to 3-5.

Up Next:

Bellevue hosts Waldorf tomorrow for a double-header beginning at noon in the regular-season finale for both teams. Bellevue enters Sunday needing to win both games to secure the NSAA regular-season title and the No. 1-seed for next week's conference tournament.

Between games, Bellevue will recognize their senior class as part of annual Senior Day ceremonies.