Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
North Dakota State
Musketeers Win Sixth Straight With 10-1 Win Over NDSU
03.12.11 | Baseball
March 12, 2011
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Sunshine State was good to the baseball Musketeers as Xavier earned a 10-1 win over North Dakota State Saturday morning to finish the RussMatt Invitational with a 7-1 record. The win was the Musketeers' sixth straight and improved their record to 9-6 on the season.
Vinny Nittoli improved to 2-0 as he went six innings in the Musketeer win. The redshirt freshman right hander allowed just one earned run and struck out four Bison batters.
Bison (0-12) starter Mark Hermes was tagged with the loss in 6.1 innings of work.
Offensively, the Musketeers were led by senior catcher Ryan Bellamy, who went 2-for-4 from the plate. Senior center fielder John McCambridge and freshman designated hitter Brian Bruening each went 2-for-5 at the plate for XU.
Freshman Selby Chidemo drove in the Musketeers' first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning with a one-out RBI single that brought home Patrick Paligraf. Xavier struck twice more in the top of the sixth as senior Phil Bauer tapped home plate on a RBI double by Ryan Bellamy. Patrick Paligraf brought home Bellamy with a single to left field in the next XU at bat and gave the Musketeers a 3-1 lead.
XU added four more in the top of the seventh with McCambridge driving in a run with a double to right field. Senior first baseman Ben Thomas blasted a three-run home run to deep center field in the next at bat that extended the Musketeer lead to 7-1.
Xavier returns to action Tuesday, March 15 as they host local rival Miami (Ohio) at 3 p.m. at the newly updated Hayden Field.
