OZARK, Mo. — The No. 24 Bellarmine University baseball team didn't get the big hit that would have broken open Friday's Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament elimination game with Drury, but the Knights didn't need it after making big outs on the mound.

Senior left-hander Hunter Spencer didn't allow a run after the second inning, freshman right-hander Brandon Pfaadt was commanding in relief and freshman first baseman Jacob Mulcahy blistered a two-run homer as the Knights stayed alive with a 5-2 victory over the Panthers at U.S Baseball Park.

Bellarmine will meet Maryville in an elimination game at 10 a.m. (ET) Saturday. If the Knights win, they'd play against Quincy (2-0 in the tournament) at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Bellarmine (35-16) is now one victory away from tying the single-season program record for wins. The GLVC East's two-seed knocked out the West's top-seeded Panthers (29-23). The Knights earned a measure of revenge after falling to Drury in both the GLVC and NCAA Tournaments last season.

Spencer (6-2) allowed a pair of runs in the second inning, but the three-time All-GLVC selection shut out Drury over the next 5-plus frames. The southpaw retired eight straight batters during a stretch from the fifth through the seventh. He departed after recording an out on the leadoff hitter in the eighth. Pfaadt entered and fanned four in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. The freshman struck out the side in the ninth in collecting his first collegiate save.

Bellarmine's offense was quiet through three innings but sprang to life in the fourth as senior shortstop Drew Greenwood led off with a single, and Mulcahy, who missed extensive time this season due to injury, launched his second homer of the year to knot the game at 2.

Bellarmine loaded the bases with no outs in both the seventh and eighth. The Knights plated the go-ahead run on a ground out by senior catcher Brady Pfaadt in the seventh and scored twice in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by junior right fielder Zac Wiley and a walk to junior third baseman Josh Finerty with the bases loaded.

Greenwood, Mulcahy and senior left fielder Griffin Neuer had two hits apiece as Bellarmine registered eight overall. Drury had 11 hits but only three came over the final five innings.

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