OMAHA, NE – The NSAA’s best baseball team goes into the conference tournament with that designation being very clear.
24th-ranked Bellevue completed a four-game sweep of University of Jamestown Baseball Saturday, winning 3-1 and 12-5 at John Stella Field at Brown Park.
Bellevue finished at 19-1 in conference play, eight games ahead of second-place Jamestown.
Game 1: Bellevue 3, Jamestown 1
Ayden Makarus decided the game for Bellevue (35-13, 18-1 NSAA) with a two-run home run, his third of the series, that broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. Makarus blasted a 3-2 pitch from Jimmie reliever Ethan Petty over the left field wall, scoring Jaylan Ruffin. He was running for Logan Grant, who walked to lead off the inning and was the last batter faced by Jamestown starter Ryan Radkey (5-3).
Jamestown (32-15, 11-8) took the lead on a first inning solo home run by Ryan Muizelaar, his 14th of the season.
Bellevue brought across their first run in the second. Jake Lacey singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on a ground ball by Elijah Tanner.
Radkey allowed two runs and four hits in five innings with three strikeouts and four walks.
Kenji Miller (8-0) pitched a six-hit complete game for the Bruins with six strikeouts.
Game 1: Bellevue 12, Jamestown 5
Logan Grant homered and drove in five runs as Bellevue (36-13, 19-1 NSAA) smashed three more homers, ending the season with a conference-best 79. Scott Hansen and Makarus also left the park.
Hansen and Nick Gravel each had four hits as the Bruins totaled 18.
Jamestown (32-16, 11-9) grabbed a 3-2 lead in the third inning with two-out RBI singles by Jordan Singleton and Isaiah Roebuck.
Bellevue then tied the game in the bottom of third and led for good after a four-run fourth. Gravel stroked a go-ahead RBI single and Grant hit a two-run single.
The Bruins scored twice more each in the sixth and seventh innings. In the eighth, the Jimmies scored twice on a Singleton solo home run and a run-scoring single by Landon Runge.
Isaac Shelton (2-2), pitching in his hometown, took the loss in relief.
Gavin Wuschke (8-2) hurled six innings for Bellevue.
Jamestown will open play Thursday in the NSAA Baseball Championship at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Ballpark in Dickinson.