LOUISVILLE, Ky. —
Drew Greenwood watched helplessly Sunday at Knights Field as his drive to right in the sixth was grabbed on a diving catch by the Alderson Broaddus outfielder.
It was a familiar scene for the Bellarmine University baseball team's junior shortstop — hitting the ball on the nose only to see it snatched deep in the outfield grass — over the three-game series.
But with two outs in the eighth, Greenwood muscled up again, this time launching a blast that cleared the backpedaling Battlers' left fielder for an RBI double that propelled the Knights to a 4-3 series-clinching victory.
Will Birch (2-0) notched the win with 2.2 dominant innings of scoreless relief for Bellarmine (7-5) against the Battlers (5-6). The senior right-hander didn't allow a single baserunner and struck out four. Birch followed solid work from sophomore left-hander
Alex Phillips, who started and yielded three earned runs in 5.0 innings, and junior right-hander
Yancey Pritchett, who pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Alderson Broaddus led 3-2 after five innings, but Bellarmine knotted it up in the seventh when junior left fielder
Griffin Neuer ripped a single to the opposite field leading off and eventually scored on a wild pitch with two outs.
Justin Smith (0-1) entered to pitch the eighth for Alderson Broaddus and retired the first two batters. Freshman center fielder
Bobby Brokamp followed by working a walk, which set the stage for Greenwood. After getting robbed of a potential double two innings earlier, Greenwood put the ball out of reach, delivering a go-ahead RBI double.
Birch made quick work of the Battlers in the ninth, inducing a ground out and fly out before sealing the win with a strikeout. The Knights captured two of the three games in the series.
Greenwood and Phillips had two hits apiece for the Knights, who had eight overall. Brokamp had an RBI double in the second and junior second baseman
Alex Ralph added an RBI single in the third.
Bellarmine hosts Lincoln Memorial in a Tuesday doubleheader. First pitch is at 1 p.m. (ET).
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