LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University baseball team split a Tuesday doubleheader with Kentucky Wesleyan, falling 8-7 in the opener before prevailing 5-2 in the tail end at Knights Field.
In the second game, junior designated hitter
Brady Pfaadt went 2 for 2 with two RBIs for Bellarmine (19-11) against KWC (13-14). Pfaadt blistered the first pitch he saw for a solo homer in the second inning, his third blast of the season. He added an RBI single in the Knights' three-run fifth.
Junior shortstop
Drew Greenwood started that frame off against Kentucky Wesleyan's Heath Brownley (0-1) with a double down the left-field line. After a single by senior catcher
Christopher Allen, junior left fielder
Griffin Neuer knotted it at 2 with a sacrifice fly. Sophomore third baseman
Josh Finerty then brought in the go-ahead run with an RBI double down the right-field line before Pfaadt tacked on another run.
Freshman right fielder
Casey Womack bumped the lead to 5-2 in the sixth when he stole second and eventually scored on a Greenwood squeeze bunt that ended up an RBI single. Greenwood, Finerty and Pfaadt had two hits apiece in the finale, with Pfaadt also stealing two bases.
Junior right-hander
Yancey Pritchett (2-0) earned the win with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief after freshman right-hander
Jacob Nagel pitched the first 4.2 innings. Sophomore right-hander
Zac Wiley notched his second save with a perfect seventh.
The opener was a back-and-forth affair with three separate ties before Kentucky Wesleyan plated the winning run in the eighth on Adam Brown's go-ahead RBI single against senior right-hander
Will Birch (3-2).
The Panthers had scored three times in the sixth to take a 7-4 lead, but the Knights responded with three runs in the bottom half. Junior second baseman
Alex Ralph had an RBI double in the frame, and senior catcher
Michael Belliveau knotted it at 7 with an RBI single.
Bellarmine scored twice in the first inning on consecutive RBI doubles by Finerty and Wiley. The Knights added a run apiece in the third and fifth innings before KWC reliever Ryan Bailey (1-0) earned the win and Alex Franzen the save, his fifth of the season.
Ralph was splendid in the opener, going 4 for 4 with two doubles and three runs scored. Sophomore right fielder
Alex Phillips tallied three hits, and Wiley chipped in a pair.
Bellarmine plays doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday at Saint Joseph's. Both start at 1 p.m. (ET).
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GAME 1 BOX SCORE (HTM)
GAME 2 BOX SCORE (HTM)
