LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Bellarmine University pushed across four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning then survived a ninth inning rally to hang for a 4-3 victory over the visiting Rangers of Wisconsin-Parkside and salvage a doubleheader split after the Rangers had won the opening game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference twin bill by the same 4-3 score.
The opening loss may cost the Knights (27-23, 19-15 GLVC) a chance at postseason play as events occurred elswhere in the GLVC to put the Knights on the outside looking in for the final spot in the GLVC tourney. The Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis swept Drury to move past the Knights by a half game in the wild card picture, and Lewis split with Northern Kentucky to claim the East Division's No. 3 seed.
Bellarmine's postseason fate now comes down to a make-up game between UMSL and Missouri S&T on Tuesday, May 8. If UMSL wins that contest, they would improve to 20-14 to claim the final wild card spot. However, a Missouri-St. Louis loss would drop the Tritons into a tie with Bellarmine at 19-15 in GLVC play, and the Knights would win the tiebreaker by virtue of their 2-0 record against the Tritons this year.
GAME 1 UWP 4, BU 3 (BOX SCORE)
In the 7-inning opener, Bellarmine had plenty of base runners but Ranger pitcher Andy Stochl was effective at working out of trouble as the right hander stranded 10 Bellarmine runners en route to picking up a complete game victory.
Wisconsin-Parkside (19-30, 12-24 GLVC) grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a 2-out single by center fielder Mike Anderson in the top of the first inning, and extended the lead to 2-0 in the top of the third on an RBI double by Corey Stonelake. However, UWP ran themselves out of a potential big inning in the third as Bellarmine left fielder Michael Morrissette gunned down Stonelake at the plate for the third out when he tried to score on Chris Glynn's single.
Bellarmine center fielder Cody Scheler opened the bottom of the third with a double to right center and came around to score on Stochl's throwing error on Jared Forrest's sacrifice bunt attempt. Following a successful sacrifice by Justin Eberenz, Forrest tied the game at 2-2 when he scored on Morrissette's fly ball to center.
The Rangers answered with two runs in the top of the fourth before they once again ran themselves out of an inning as this time it was Cody Scheler with the outfield assist to end the inning.
Bellarmine got one back in the bottom half of the fourth on doubles by Andy Gehr and Forrest. However, the Knights stranded Forrest at third to end the inning trailing by the score of 4-3.
The Bellarmine pitching staff shut down the Ranger offense over the final three innings giving up just one hit. Meanwhile, the Knights kept putting pressure on the visitors, but in each of the final three innings, Stochl escaped while stranding two Bellarmine base runners.
The Knights were paced at the plate by Phillip Leopold, who was 2-for-4, and Forrest, who was 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run scored. Benajamin Fuchs was the hard-luck loser for the Knights. The Bellarmine lefty went five innings and gave up four runs, of which only two were earned.
GAME 2: BU 4, UWP 3 (BOX SCORE)
A pair of bases-loaded walks gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning, and the game appeared to be going UWP's way until Bellarmine got both timely hitting and a couple of breaks to plate four runs and wrestle the lead away from the Rangers in the seventh.
Kal Scheler opened the bottom of the seventh with a single down the right field line and advanced on a wild pitch on the first offering to Bellarmine catcher Kyle Roden, who then drove in Scheler with a double to right center.
Following a pitching change, Phillip Leopold was credited with a bunt single after UWP third baseman Eric Abel elected to let the ball roll foul only to have the umpire rule a fair ball when Abel touched the ball while it was on the foul line. Gehr then drew a walk to load the bases, and Cody Scheler followed with a shallow fly ball to center that was questionable as to whether it was deep enough to score Roden from third. However, Leopold had strayed way off second base, so the center fielder elected to try and double off Leopold instead of throwing home, and Roden was able to trot home easily with the tying run. Making matters worse for the Rangers, Leopold was able to retreat safely to second base. Pinch hitter Brian Hockman then delivered a single to load the bases with just one out.
The tide seemed to turn in the Rangers' direction as Gehr wandered too far off second base and was picked off. With runners on the corners and two outs, Ryan Pierce, who had come in to run for Hockman, stole second without a throw from the defense. Although the play seemed harmless at the time, it proved to be the difference in the game. Bellarmine's next batter—Eberenz hit a slow roller to shortstop and with no force out at second, Glynn's only play was across the field, and he threw wildly allowing both Leopold and Pierce to score and put the Knights ahead 4-2. The Rangers finally got out of the inning when Morrissette flied out to center.
In the eighth, both teams had their only hits of the inning erased on inning-ending double plays, so Bellarmine took a 4-2 lead to the ninth inning.
Knights closer Justin Strohmeier retired two of the first three batters he faced, but nailing down the third out and victory proved a difficult task. After giving up a walk to put runners on first and second, Glynn singled to load the bases with two outs. Parkside's No. 9 batter, catcher Kirk Haviland, came through in the clutch and delivered a single to pull the Rangers to within 4-3. However, Strohmeier got the next batter to ground to first base to record his sixth save of the season.
Leopold and Kal Scheler each had two hits to lead the Bellarmine offense.
Jason Sterrett pitched six innings as the starter, giving up just two runs, but didn't factor into the decision. Ryan Dixon pitched a scoreless seventh for the Knights and got the credit for the win—the first of his Bellarmine career.
