LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine University baseball team swept a doubleheader from Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Kentucky Wesleyan this afternoon at Knights Field coming back for a 7-4 victory in game one and getting an 8-2 victory in game two.
 
In the opener, the visiting Panthers built a 4-0 lead over the first five innings before the Knights stormed back to take the 7-4 win fueled by a 5-run seventh inning.  Kyle Roden and Austin Crutcher drove in two runs apiece to lead the Bellarmine offense, while Matt Bayes pitches 3-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the victory.  The Knights' Justin Strohmeier got credit for his second save of the year, coming on with two on and one out in the top of the ninth and inducing a game-ending double play from the only batter he faced.
 
Game two—a scheduled 7-inning affair—saw the Knights grab a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third and never relinquish the lead.  After KWC scored twice in the top of the sixth to trim the Bellarmine lead to 3-2, the Knights exploded for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach.   
 
One of the highlights of the second game was Roden's straight steal of home.  The senior catcher singled and stole second, then advanced to third on a fly ball to right.  As the Panthers' left-handed pitcher Tyler Edge went to the full-windup, Roden broke for home and slid under the tag of the KWC catcher.
 
Roden and Justin Eberenz both produced multi-hit games in game two, and Benjamin Fuchs pitched 5-1/3 solid innings before being relieved by Cory Thomas and Strohmeier , who finished both games of the twin bill.
 
With the victories, Bellarmine improves to 15-8 and maintains its GLVC East Division lead with a 7-1 conference mark.  Kentucky Wesleyan slips to 12-10 (6-4 GLVC).
 
The Knights and Panthers will play another doubleheader tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for noon.
 
BOX SCORE GAME 1
 
BOX SCORE GAME 2