ST. LOUIS—It was worth the wait.
 
Bellarmine endured a four-hour rain delay, then went out and swept a crucial doubleheader at Maryville with both wins coming in dramatic, seventh inning comebacks.
 
In the opener, the score see-sawed back and forth, and the Knights trailed 4-3 entering the last inning before plating three runs to pull out the 6-4 victory.
 
The nightcap proved even more dramatic. Bellarmine trailed the entire game and was looking at the wrong end of a 3-2 score to start the seventh. However, one swing of the bat reversed the fortunes as Megan Bretz belted a pinch-hit three-run homer to stake the Knights to a 5-3 lead. Paige Dabney later added an RBI single to increase the Bellarmine lead to 6-3, and the Saints went down in order in the home half of the inning as the Knights completed the sweep.
 
The wins were critical to Bellarmine's hopes of making the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship tournament. With most teams in the league only having two games remaining, the Knights are tied for eighth place with Indianapolis.  The top eight teams advance to the GLVC tourney, and fortunately for Bellarmine, they own the tiebreaker over UIndy by virtue of sweeping the Greyhounds on April 8.
 
With today's sweep, Bellarmine improves to an even. 500 on the year at 26-26 with a 14-14 mark in league play. The Saints, who entered today's doubleheader tied with Bellarmine, slips to 22-26 overall and 12-16 in the GLVC.
 
Bellarmine is scheduled to conclude its regular season with a doubleheader on Sunday at Missouri St.-Louis. Game one is slated to begin at noon (CDT).
 
 
GAME 1:  BU 6, MU 4 (HTM BOX SCORE)
 
After waiting out the rain, the Knights were eager to swing the bats and wasted no time in putting runs on the board. Erica Knollman was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the first, and Rachel Fox promptly drove her in by smacking a double down the left field line. Fox then scampered home on a Maryville error.
 
The Saints were held hitless over the first two innings, but broke through for three hits and three runs in the third inning to wrestle the lead away from the Knights.
 
After a scoreless fourth inning, Fox popped her second of the double of the day to lead off the fifth, and came around to tie the game on Olivia Russell's single.  
 
However, Maryville reclaimed the lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, and went into the seventh inning with a 4-3 advantage.
 
Russell rapped out a single to start the seventh, and after a fly out, Bellarmine catcher Ciara Incorvati doubled down the right field line to put runners on second and third with just one out. Marlee Tevis tied the game by driving in a run with a grounder to second base, and Kelly Ely singled home Incorvati to give the Knights a 5-4 lead. A Maryville error led to an insurance run, but Bellarmine pitcher Sabrina Fussenegger didn't need the cushion as she retired the Saints in order to pick up the win.
 
GAME 2: BU 6, MU 3 (HTM BOX SCORE)
 
In the nightcap, the Knights fell in an early 3-0 hole as the Saints scored twice in the second and added a solo homer in the third. Meanwhile, Bellarmine managed just two hits over the first four innings.
 
The Knights' offense didn't exactly come alive in the fifth, but Bellarmine managed to plate two runs after a leadoff walk and a triple by Melissa Hammer followed by a wild pitch.
 
The score remained 3-2 heading into the seventh when Tevis opened the frame by reaching base on a Maryville error.  After another Maryville wild pitch and an Incorvati single, the Knights had runners on the corners with no outs.
 
Bellarmine Coach Renee Hicks went to her bench and called on Bretz, whose play has been limited this season due to a midseason illness. The sophomore from Nicholas County came through in the clutch, delivering her first homer of the season to give the Knights a 5-3 lead.
 
Bellarmine didn't rest on the two-run lead, however. Fox hammered her third double of the day and her second hit of the game, and Dabney followed with an RBI single to increase the BU lead to 6-3.
 
The Saints hit the ball hard in the their final at-bat, but Knollman made all three put-outs at shortstop for the Knights as she corralled a fly ball then snared a pair of line drives to preserve the victory.
 
Fussenegger, who relieved Tevis in the circle, picked up the win in game two, running her record to 16-12.