BU opens conference play with a pair of wins

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Their first games in their new league produced similar results for the No. 4-ranked Bellevue University baseball team as the Bruins opened Frontier Conference play with a pair of victories over Dickinson State University and Mayville State University on Saturday at the Sanford Sports Complex.

Bellevue rolled past DSU 9-2 in the opener before dropping MSU 14-9 in the nightcap. The Bruins extend their win streak to eight games, improving to 20-3 overall and begin 2-0 in the Frontier Conference. Dickinson fell to 13-11 (0-1 FC) with the loss while Mayville dropped to 14-8 (1-1).

Bellevue 9, Dickinson State 2

Xavier Lerma homered twice and Kenji Miller delivered eight sparkling innings of five-hit ball for the Bruins who earned their first Frontier Conference victory, defeating Dickinson State 9-2 in the opener.

Miller (5-1) struck out six against just one walk while allowing just one run across those eight innings in his fourth-straight quality start for BU.

Lerma homered off a pair of Blue Hawk arms, taking Jerry Santiago Jr. deep in the fifth and Anthony Hanson in the eighth.

Bellevue scored on an error in the second before adding runs on a Jaylan Ruffin double and Nick Gravel sac fly in the fourth.

Lerma's first blast gave the Bruins some breathing room, at 5-0 before Jace Buchanan singled home a run for DSU in the sixth.

The Bruins put the game away with a four-run eighth behind a sac fly from Claerhout and Lerma's three-run shot, his sixth of the year.

Dominic Phillips (0-4) took the loss for Dickinson State, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits across four innings.

Cannon Close came on to throw the ninth and finish off the win.

Bellevue 14, Mayville State 9

Carter Claerhout, Xavier Lerma, and Jaylan Ruffin all posted multi-hit games to lead a 14-hit attack as Bellevue won a slugfest in Saturday's second game.

Ayden Makarus (9), Oak Held (4), and Mason Spellecy (4) all went deep in the win for Bellevue.

Held stake the Bruins to an early lead with a one-out, solo home run in the first. Two batters later Makarus left the yard to extend the Bruin lead to 3-0 after one inning of play.

The Comets scratched across single runs in the second and fourth but Bellevue kept them at arm's length.

Already leading 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Bellevue added on when Held scored on a wild pitch and Dylan Holmes chased home Claerhout with a sac fly.

Mayville and BU traded three-spots in the sixth and a Bode Roberts home run in the seventh for MSU made it a 10-7 game. Bellevue answered with three runs in the home half, including a two-run double from Claerhout.

Louis-Felix Anderson tacked on an insurance run with a two-out single in the eighth to score Caleb Williams before the Comets tried to mount a comeback bid in the ninth. Five of their first six batters reached before the Bruins summoned Brody Burnette to close it out. After coming on with the bases loaded and one out, he struck out Quinn Pershing and Peyton Doty, both looking, to nail down his ninth save of the year – already tying him for fifth in BU history in a single season.

Brayden Andersen (5-0) worked 6.1 innings to get the win, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits while striking out four and walking one.

Tyler Boden (1-1) allowed five runs on five hits over four innings in taking the loss.

Top Performers

Bellevue University

Kenji Miller: Win (5-1), 8 IP, 6 SO, 1 BB, 1 ER, 5 hits
Xavier Lerma: 5-10, 2 HR (5, 6), 6 RBI, 2 runs scored
Mason Spellecy: 3-7, double, HR (4), RBI, 2 runs scored
Oak Held: 2-5, HR (4), RBI, 3 walks, 5 runs scored

Dickinson State University

Ramon Teran: 2-4, run scored
Jace Buchanan: 2-3, RBI, run scored
Ty Farwell: 1-4, double

Mayville State University

Kevin Conway: 4-5, double, 3 RBI, 3 runs scored
Zachary Evanochko: 2-5, double, RBI
Jack McQueen: 2-4, 3 RBI

Up Next:

Bellevue is back in action tomorrow with two more Frontier Conference games at the Sanford Sports Complex beginning with a 1:15 p.m. first pitch against Bismarck State College (12-9, 0-2 FC) and a 4:30 p.m. start to close out the weekend against Valley City State University (14-9, 1-1 FC).