#24 Bruins blank #17 St. Thomas, 6-0, to secure series win

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Elijah Johnson and Cade Sakamoto allowed just six combined hits to lead the #24 Bellevue University baseball team to a 6-0 win over #17 St. Thomas University in the second game of a three-game series at TigerTown.

With their sixth-straight win, the Bruins improve to 10-3 on the year and St. Thomas falls to 13-5.

Bellevue saw nine players record a hit as they pounded out 12 hits as a team. Drew Staley, Conner Barnett, and Brenton Davis each had a pair of singles while Tradd Richardson accounted for the lone extra-base hit of the game for BU, a leadoff seventh inning double.

Elijah Johnson (3-1) was again terrific on the mound for Bellevue as he fired seven shutout innings. He struck out eight against just one walk and scattered five hits.

Bobcat starter Gio Soto (3-1) matched Johnson almost pitch-for-pitch through six shutout innings before running out of steam in the seventh.

Conner Barnett, pinch-hitting after Richardson opened the inning with a two-bagger, singled back up the middle to chase home the game's first run. Another base hit from Zach Diehl put runners on the corners and chased Soto from the game. Davis greeted reliever Richard Sanchez with a base hit to right to score Barnett. After the second pitching change of the inning, Drew Staley singled to left to score Davis from second and give the Bruins a 3-0 lead at the seventh inning stretch.

Johnson worked a 1-2-3 seventh and the Bruins added a run on a throwing error in the eighth to give reliever Cade Sakamoto a 4-0 lead with which to work.

Sakamoto worked around a one-out walk in the eighth and a leadoff double in the ninth to toss two scoreless innings.

Alec Ackerman and Alex Stufft each brought home insurance runs in the ninth with Ackerman reaching via an error that allowed Davis to score and Stufft singling in Staley.

The Bruins and Bobcats wrap up their three-game set tomorrow at noon with BU aiming for the sweep and STU looking to salvage a win.