LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- Getting a pair of dominating pitching performances from Alicia Miller and Amanda Meyer, the Bellarmine University softball team picked up two 1-0 shutout victories over the St. Joseph's College Pumas on Sunday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

A day after dropping a doubleheader to No. 4 Indianapolis, Bellarmine(19-15, 10-6 GLVC) moves into a sole possession of fourth place in the GLVC East, just behind St. Joseph's (17-9, 8-4 GLVC) in the standings.

Game 1: Bellarmine 1, St. Joseph's 0

Miller was excellent from the first pitch, retiring 16 of the first 17 batters she faced with the only blemish through the first five innings was Tiffany Gibson reaching on an error by Kelsey Hicks.

Hicks would also represent the lone run scored in the opener, scoring all the way from second on a single through the left side by freshman Kayla Padgett in the second.

In the top of the sixth, Kristin Paris had SJC's only hit of the game, picking up an infield hit on a slow grounder to short. The Pumas would eventually load the bases with two outs, but Miller escaped the jam by getting Brittnie Boerema to hit a grounder back to the mound as Miller threw home for the force out. 

Miller(9-9), a freshman from Alexandria, Ky., threw 7.0 innings, giving up just one hit, one walk, and struck out three to pick up her ninth win of the season. She lowers her season ERA to 2.44 and has walked just five batters in 118.0 innings.

Box Score

Game 2: Bellarmine 1, St. Joseph's 0

In game two, Meyer(10-6) picked up right where Miller left off, tossing 7.0 shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out one. Two of those hits came in the top of the second, but Meyer induced a foul out by Kristin Paris to end the inning.

Senior Lauren Summe led off the fourth with a single to right field, being replaced by Casey Cleary to pinch run. Cleary moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Megan Murdoch and advanced to third on a passed ball. Madi Ratliff brought Cleary home in unusual fashion, via the suicide squeeze bunt, to take the 1-0 lead. Ratliff usually does her damage with the long ball, ranking second in the GLVC with 10 home runs.

With the lead in hand, Meyer would seal the victory by getting Audra Rains to fly out to centerfield with a runner on third to end the game. The victory was Meyer's 35th of her career, fourth most in school history. She is just three behind Joyce Krausen for third place.

Box Score

Miller and Meyer combined to hold St. Joseph's to just 4 for 45 (.088) from the plate on the day. Bellarmine will hit the road next weekend, playing doubleheaders at Lewis on Saturday and at Wisconsin-Parkside on Sunday.