Claerhout breaks home run record as Bruins rout Comets to open FC Tournament
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
|
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | X | 20 | 22 | 0 |
DICKINSON, N.D. -- Carter Claerhout broke the single-season record with a pair of home runs, his 24th and 25th of the season, and Ayden Makarus homered three times to lead the top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Bellevue University baseball team past fifth-seeded Mayville State University 20-1 on Thursday in the Bruins' first game of the 2026 Frontier Conference Tournament.
With the win, BU extends their win streak to 33 games and improves to 45-3 on the year. The Comets drop to 23-23 and fall into the loser's bracket where they will play an elimination game tomorrow at 10 a.m. against the loser of Thursday's final game between second-seeded Valley City State University and third-seeded Dickinson State University.
Bellevue 20, Mayville State 1
Ayden Makarus and Carter Claerhout combined for five home runs as the Bruins opened the tournament with a 20-run performance.
The Bruins jumped on the Comets with a five-run first inning. Ayden Makarus got the offense rolling with a two-run single before coming around to score on a base hit from Xavier Lerma. An RBI-ground out from Anthony Lind chased home Lerma and a passed ball allowed Dylan Holmes to race home as BU led 5-0 after one inning of play.
Makarus tacked on two more for BU in the second with a towering two-run home over the wall in left.
After the Comets got on the board in the third, Carter Claerhout belted his record-tying 24th home run of the season, a two-run shot as BU stretched the lead to 10-1.
Makarus launched his second blast in the fourth, a two-run shot to left, as the Bruins totaled four more runs.
The fifth saw Claerhout break the single-season home run record with his 25th, eclipsing the mark set by JT Patterson in 2019. Three pitches later, Makarus made it back-to-back blasts with his single game record-tying third home run of the game as BU tacked on five more in the fifth.
The three-home run game from Makarus is the first by a Bruin since Logan Grant back on Apr. 13, 2024 and matches a single game record.
The Bruins tacked on one more insurance run in the sixth to account for the final margin.
Kenji Miller (10-1) went the distance on the hill for BU, striking out five against a pair of walks. He limited the Comets to one run while scattering five hits.
Tyler Boden (3-4) suffered the loss for the Comets. He allowed 10 runs (9 earned) on 13 hits across 2.2 innings of work, striking out 2.
Top Performers
Bellevue University
Carter Claerhout: 3-5, 2 HR (25), 4 RBI, 2 runs
Ayden Makarus: 5-5, 3 HR (17), 6 RBI, 4 runs
Nick Gravel: 2-4, double, 3 RBI, 2 runs
Mason Spellecy, 4-4, double, 3 runs
Jaylan Ruffin: 3-3, RBI, run
Kenji Miller: Win (10-1), CG, 1 run, 5 hits, 5 SO, 2 BB
Mayville State University
Robert Gurney: 1-3, double, RBI
Kevin Conway: 1-3
Quinn Pershing: 1-1
Marshall Judisch: 1-1, run, walk
Up Next
Bellevue meets the winner of the VCSU-Dickinson State game tomorrow at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. Mountain Time) with the winner of that advancing to Sunday's Championship Game.