Bellevue College Baseball lost a pitching duel on Saturday, March 8 2-1 before getting rained out in game two then swept a pair on Sunday, March 9 over the Raiders by scores of 6-2 and 2-0. The weekend was highlighted by excellent pitching as both the starters and bullpen staff were sharp in all three games.
On Saturday, Bellevue’s Nick Kiel, while more dominating than his left-handed opponent Darrien Moran by striking out 10 Pierce batters, ended up on the short end as Pierce scrapped together one run in the third followed by two costly errors that led to Pierce’s second (and winning) run in the fourth. Kiel went four innings and struck out 10 and did not walk a batter while surrendering only three hits. Moran, who was 9-1 last year as he led Pierce to the NWAACC Championship game, gave up only one run, a solo home run by Aaron Sandefur in the second inning, and lowered his ERA to 0.82 for the year.
On Sunday, Bellevue’s offense benefitted from the control issues of Pierce’s pitchers as they gave Bellevue three free runs with wild pitches and/or walks to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. Bellevue jumped out earlier in the second inning on an RBI single by Clayton Huber and a sacrifice fly from Jeff Wyner. Dylan Wright, who was summoned straight off the bench to replace starting pitcher Brandon Mahovlich who left the game abruptly in the second inning due to an arm injury, was stellar in long relief to earn the win. Wright went five innings and gave up only one run before giving way to Koleman Johns and Cody Culp who held Pierce in check for the remainder of the game. Brady Kerr went 3-for-4 to lead Bellevue’s offense. In game two, Bellevue managed only three hits in the game but came up with the key one as John Bodenhamer lined a shot to second base to score Nate Anderson and Joakim Soderqvist for the only runs of the game. Alex Hatch went five innings and struck out seven while walking only one to earn the win. Hatch lowered his ERA to 1.00 with the win and is off to a hot start for Bellevue.
The Bulldogs, who have a winning record for the first time this season at 4-3, enter a rugged week with six games in three days in Arizona. The week features games against professional clubs from the San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Brewers.
Last Updated March 31, 2014
