LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine softball team won game one of today's doubleheader to make it six wins in its last seven games, but BU's comeback bid fell short in the nightcap as the visiting Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers salvaged a split in the Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader at Knights Field.

In the opener, the Knights took a 3-0 victory in  a game that featured just nine total hits.  Bellarmine freshman Sabrina Fussenegger hurled her fifth shutout of the season, allowing just five hits while issuing no walks.

In game two, the visiting Rangers broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of runs in the sixth and added another in the seventh to secure a 5-2 win.

Bellarmine moves to 21-25 on the season with a 9-13 league record while Wisconsin-Parkside is now 14-24, 9-11 GLVC.

Bellarmine stays at home for its next two doubleheaders. The Knights entertain Truman State on April 22 before closing out their 2017 home schedule on April 23 with a senior day doubleheader against Quincy. First game starts at noon on both days.

GAME 1 (HTM BOX SCORE)

Bellarmine's first batter of the game reached on a fielding error, and the Knights immediately made the Rangers pay when Rachel Fox doubled to left center to drive in Erica Knollman.  However, Fox was caught in a rundown and tagged out between second and third base. The Knights went on to load the bases, but could not push across another run.

Olivia Russell provided Bellarmine's second run of the game when she belted her third homer of the season—a solo shot to left field in the bottom of the third.

Bellarmine scored its final run without the benefit of a base hit in the top of the sixth. After a pair of walks and a wild pitch put runners on second and third, Kelly Ely lifted a sacrifice to right field to score Marley Edwards, who was pinch running for Russell.

Meanwhile, Fussenegger stayed out of trouble by scattering the Rangers' five hits over five different innings. Wisconsin-Parkside did have a scoring threat in the seventh after a leadoff double, but after a pop up in foul ground to third base, the Knights recorded a double play to end the game on a line drive to second base.

GAME 2 (HTM BOX SCORE)

The second game started without much offense, but in the top of the third inning, the Rangers finally broke through. Madison Manders led off the inning drawing a walk after fouling off seven pitches. Jessica Shields then followed with a triple to drive in Manders. Shields scored two plays later on a sacrifice fly to give Parkside a 2-0 lead.

The Knights answered immediately with two runs in the home half of the third, putting together a two-out rally as Knollman, Fox and Paige Dabney all recorded hits.

Both teams then squandered bases loaded opportunities in the fifth before the Rangers broke the tie in the sixth, plating two runs on three hits and a Bellarmine error.

Parkside then extended its lead to 5-2 in the seventh with an unearned run. Meanwhile the Knights managed just one hit in the final two innings as UWP hung on for the victory.

Fox finished the game 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored while Katie Stamper added two hits in three at-bats.

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