COLUMBUS, Ga.—The Bellarmine Knights concluded play in the Cougar Classic today, falling 5-3 in extra innings to No. 9 Georgia College before dropping a 14-4 decision to Young Harris in games played at Columbus State University.

Bellarmine now returns home for a lone doubleheader on Feb. 21 when they host Ohio Dominican at noon.  The Knights then return to the road for the Mid-South Classic in Duncan, South Carolina, where they'll play six games in three days Feb. 26-28.

GAME 1:  BU 3, GC  5 (BOX SCORE)

For the second time in the Cougar Classic, the Knights pushed the top 10 team into extra innings before the Bobcats escaped with the win. 

Bellarmine's Ally Foster nearly defeated Georgia College single handedly, hurling a great game in the circle and hammering two solo homers to provide two of the Knights' three runs.

Bellarmine broke out on top in the home half of the first when Kelly Ely legged out a two-out single and Marlee Tevis drover her home with a double to left center.

Foster homered in the third to give the Knights a 2-0 lead.  Meanwhile, the senior right hander was keeping the Bobcat offense at bay, surrendering just two hits over the first four innings.

Georgia College finally broke through for a run in the top of the fifth after a triple and a sacrifice fly, Foster answered in the bottom of the inning with her second homer to keep the Knights' lead at two.

The Bobcats finally scratched out consecutive hits in the sixth inning when the first three batters connected for base knocks to score a run, then added a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 3-3.

Georgia College reliever Carly Lewis, who came in following Foster's second home run, did a masterful job. She gave up a single to the second batter she faced (Ely), then sat down 13 of the 14 batters she faced.

Foster remained in the circle for the Knights, and kept the Bobcats off the scoreboard until the ninth when she almost worked out of a jam, but a Bellarmine error allowed two runs to score as Georgia College escaped with the 5-3 win. The Bobcats moved to a perfect 10-0 on the season.
 
GAME 2: BU 4, YHC 14 (BOX SCORE)

An eight-run sixth inning for Young Harris proved too much to overcome for the Knights and propelled the Lions to a come-from-behind win.

Young Harris had taken an early 2-0 lead with a two-run homer, but the Knights fought back to take a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ely led off with a single and Erica Knollman connected for her first homer of the year to knot the score at two. Then, the next inning, freshman pitcher Madeline Kurtz delivered a two-out single to drive in Foster and Rachel Fox.

The Bobcats answered in a big way in the top of the sixth, plating eight runs with the big blows coming in the form of two, 3-run homers.

Bellarmine did not have an answer this time, managing just two hits in their final two at-bats. 

Meanwhile, the Bobcats added four runs on five hits and a Bellarmine error in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 10 runs.

With the pair of losses on the day, Bellarmine falls to 5-7 on the season while Young Harris improves to 10-2.

Ely was 2-for-4 in game two to finish her day with five hits in eight at bats as she improved her batting average to .514 on the season.