LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The visiting Rockhurst Hawks swept a doubleheader from the Bellarmine Knights in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams today at Knights Field.
Rockhurst exploded out of the gates, racking up eight runs in the first two innings of game one and went on to post a 9-1 victory in five innings. In the tail end of the doubleheader, the Hawks again broke out to an early lead and held on for a 7-4 win.
Bellarmine falls to 12-14 overall and starts 0-2 in the GLVC while the Hawks improve to 12-12 with a 2-0 league mark.
The Knights are back in action on Sunday with a twin bill against William Jewell, which opened its GLVC season by splitting with Southern Indiana today.
GAME 1 RECAP (
HTM BOX SCORE)
The Hawks opened the day with the leadoff batter reaching on a Bellarmine error, which led the way to a two-run inning after Rockhurst ripped a double down the left field line and followed with an opposite field single.
After the Knights were retired in order in the bottom of the first, the Hawks erupted for six runs in the second as they rapped out seven hits in the inning.
Meanwhile, the Knights didn't register a hit until the top of the third when
Rachel Fox smacked a grounder through the middle. After
Kelly Ely followed with a single and
Melissa Hammer laid down a sacrifice bunt, Bellarmine had a serious scoring threat with runners on second and third with just one out, but back-to-back ground outs halted the Knights' inning.
The Hawks saw their lead swell to 9-0 when Kelsey Tepen opened the fifth inning with a solo homer to left.
Bellarmine avoided the shutout by pushing across a run in the bottom half of the fifth when Ely doubled home Fox, who had singled in front of her.
GAME 2 RECAP (
HTM BOX SCORE)
In game two, the Hawks opened the scoring in the top of the second as Lauren Cairo connected for a two-out, three-run homer. Then, Rockhurst extended its lead to five in the top of third by plating a pair of runs--again by way of a home run--as Hannah Pyle rapped a two-run shot to left.
The Knights came back with a run in the home half of the inning without the benefit of a base hit. After retiring the first two Bellarmine batters, Rockhurst hurler Bridgette Sappington then issued a walk, hit a batter, then walked two more to plate a run. The Knights, however, left the bases loaded after Shannon Greene relieved Sappington and induced an inning-ending grounder.
The Hawks extended their lead to 6-1 in the fifth when Taylor Rupe doubled to dead center field and pinch runner Emily Truitt scampered home on a single to right field.
The Knights finally got some offense in the bottom of the fifth when
Paige Dabney led off by rifling a shot down the left field line that led to a double. After a foul out advanced pinch runner
Marley Edwards to third,
Katie Stamper drew a walk, and
Rachel Ayer smacked a double to the power alley in left center to drive in Edwards.
Marlee Tevis then shot a single down the right field line to score Stamper and Ayer to trim the deficit to 6-4. However, a pair of sharply hit balls that wound up as outs stymied the Bellarmine rally.
Rockhurst tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth, but that would be the final score of the game as the Knights managed just one hit in each of the last two innings.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights), Facebook (BUKnights) and the BUKnights mobile app available for iPhone and Android.
