No. 3 Bellevue finishes off series sweep of Comets, extends streak to 23

Frontier Conference Standings

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- In a script eerily similar to yesterday, the No. 3-ranked Bellevue University baseball team finished off a four-game with of Mayville State University with a double-header sweep on Saturday afternoon at the Renner Dennis Outdoor Athletic Complex.

Bellevue edged out the Comets 2-1 in the opener before posting a 13-9 win in game two to extend their winning streak to 23 games, improving to 35-3 on the year and remaining unbeaten in Frontier Conference play going to 15-0. The losses dropped Mayville State to 20-15 overall and 7-8 in league play.

Game One: BU 2, Mayville State 1

Bellevue's Kenji Miller and Mayville State's Garrett Lundmark locked horns in a classic pitcher's duel in the opener with the Bruin southpaw prevailing.

Carter Claerhout drove in both runs for the Bruins. His third inning single scored Nick Gravel to stake BU to a 1-0 lead and his fifth inning homer to center field proved decisive.

Miller allowed just two hits entering the sixth inning before the Comets finally scratched a run across on Jack McQueen's fielder's choice that resulted in runners on the corners. However, Miller retired Keegan Neva on a ground ball to end the threat.

After Miller won the lefty-lefty match-up with Marshall Judisch, he was lifted for closer Brody Burnette who worked the final two-thirds of an inning to log his 13^th save of the season.

Miller (7-1) worked 6.1 innings of three-hit ball, allowing just the one run, for Bellevue to secure the victory. He struck out seven but issued five walks.

Lundmark (4-2) went the distance on the bump for the Comets, limited the Bruins to two runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked two.

Game Two: BU 13, Mayville State 9

The bats came alive for both sides in the series finale with the team combining for 22 runs on 35 hits.

Six Bruins tallied multi-hit games, led by three-hit performances from Anthony Lind and Jaylan Ruffin.

Mayville State's Cam Goff recorded four knocks to lead the Comets who also saw half a dozen players post multi-hit ballgames.

Jack McQueen singled home Goff with the game's first run in the bottom of the first and a second run came home in the form of Kevin Conway on a throwing error.

Bellevue responded with a six-run second inning to jump in front. Ruffin had and RBI double while Nick Gravel, Dylan Holmes, and Xavier Lerma each drove in runs with base hits and Ayden Makarus singled home a pair in the frame.

A bases loaded walk to Oak Held saw the Bruins add on in the third before Anthony Lind belted a two-run home run in the fourth for a 9-2 BU lead.

Tony Villarreal answered with a two-run jack of his own in the home half of the inning before Carter Claerhout and Zachary Evanochko traded solo bombs in the fifth.

MSU got another run in the fifth on a sac fly from Villarreal to cut the deficit to 10-6.

Bellevue countered in the seventh with three runs while the Comets added single runs in each of the final three frames

Reid Madariaga (4-0) worked five innings to earn the win. He allowed six runs (five earned) on 11 hits, striking out three and walking three.

Tyler Boden (3-2) took the loss for the Comets, allowing six runs on six hits in just 1.2 innings. He struck out a pair and walked two batters.

Top Performers:

Bellevue University

Kenji Miller: Win (7-1), 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, 7 SO, 5 walks
Carter Claerhout: 4-7, 2 HR (15), 4 RBI, double, 4 runs
Nick Gravel: 4-8, RBI, 3 runs
Oak Held: 3-7, RBI, 2 runs
Jaylan Ruffin: 3-8, double, RBI, run
Xavier Lerma: 3-8, 2 RBI, run
Anthony Lind: 3-8, HR (7), 2 RBI, double, 3 runs

Mayville State University

Garrett Lundmark: Loss (4-2), 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 hits, 4 SO, 2 walks
Tony Villarreal: 4-7, HR (5), 3 RBI, run
Cam Goff: 4-7, HR (11), RBI, 2 Runs
Keegan Neva: 3-6, double, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Jack McQueen: 3-8, double, 2 RBI, run

Up Next:

Bellevue hits the road for the first time in over three weeks on Tuesday, Apr. 14 when they trek up to Madison, S.D. for a 2 p.m. Frontier Conference match-up against Dakota State University at DSU's Flynn Field.