LIBERTY, Mo.—The Bellarmine Knights softball team fell victim to the long ball as the host William Jewell Cardinals smacked seven homers in sweeping a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader today, taking game one 6-1 then notching a come-from-behind 9-4 victory over the Knights.

The Knights fall to 13-15 on the season while seeing their GLVC mark slip to 3-3 on the season. The Cardinals improve to 8-12 overall and 2-4 in league play.

Bellarmine now moves on to a doubleheader at Rockhurst tomorrow.  Game one is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (EDT) start.

GAME 1:  BU 1, WJC 6 (HTM BOX SCORE)

The Knights stranded runners in scoring position in the first three innings, while the Cardinals could not manage a base hit in their first two at-bats. However, in the bottom of the third, William Jewell's bats were awakened by Megan Barnes, who connected for a solo homer to get the Cardinals on the board. They would go on to tack on another run fueled by a Bellarmine error.

Bellarmine again let a scoring opportunity slip away in the top of the fifth when they had runners at second and third with one out as WJC pitcher Shelby McGraw escaped by getting back to back strikeouts.

The Knights finally pushed across a run in the top of the sixth when Kelly Ely doubled then capitalized on a Cardinal error to scamper home.

In the bottom of the sixth, a pair of singles and a walk contributed to a William Jewell run, then McGraw helped her own cause by uncorking a 3-run homer to right center to make the score 6-1.

The Knights went quietly in the top of the seventh, and the Cardinals recorded their first GLVC victory of the year.

Bellarmine managed just three base hits off McGraw with Melissa Hammer and Megan Bretz joining Ely as the only Knights with base hits in the game.

Marlee Tevis , who had solid numbers through the first five innings, ended up suffering the loss in the circle for Bellarmine.

GAME 2:  BU 4, WJC 9 (HTM BOX SCORE)

Game two opened with the Knights getting off to a 4-0 lead after two and a half innings of play. Tevis got the scoring started by leading off the top of the second with her seventh homer of the year. The Knights added a second run in the inning after Katie Stamper doubled and was sacrificed to third and scored on Tabby Shewmaker's fly ball to center field.

The Knights extended their lead to 4-0 in the top of the third after Hammer drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch.  Megan Bretz, who was on base thanks to a WJC error, came around to score on Stamper's single up the middle.

In the home half of the third, the Cardinals again made use of the long ball, connecting for two homers in the inning to trim the Bellarmine lead to 4-3. 

Another WJC solo shot knotted the score at four in the bottom of the fourth, and an inning later the Cardinals took a 7-4 lead after an unearned run and a 2-run homer.

In the bottom of the sixth, William Jewell tacked on two more runs as McGraw hit her second round-tripper of the day.

The Knights had no answers as McGraw pitched four and two-thirds inning in relief without surrendering a run to pick up her second win of the day.