MONTEVALLO, Ala. — It was evident that facing Montevallo pitcher Cas Silber would be a challenge under any circumstance, but the task was especially difficult for the Bellarmine University baseball team in its season opener.
The Knights charged back from an 8-1 deficit Friday to make things suspenseful, but ultimately it was Silber's 6.0 commanding innings at the outset and the pitching staff's 16 combined strikeouts that keyed a 9-7 victory for the Falcons.
While the game was the season debut for Bellarmine (0-1), it marked the ninth outing for Montevallo (6-3). That may have factored into Bellarmine's struggles making contact against Silber (2-1), who logged his third start of the season after fanning 19 in 11.1 innings over his first two performances.
Against Bellarmine, he struck out a pair each over the first two innings and fanned the side in the fifth. Senior catcher
Brady Pfaadt led off the sixth against him with a solo homer, but that was the only damage against him as he allowed one run on five hits in 6.0 frames.
Junior right fielder
Zac Wiley went 3 for 5 with a three-run homer for Bellarmine. Senior shortstop
Drew Greenwood doubled in going 2 for 5 with two RBIs, and junior third baseman
Trevor Lines added a pair of hits. The Knights tallied 11 hits overall while the Falcons had 13 including three home runs.
Junior left-hander
Eddie Mathis (0-1) took the loss. Montevallo scored one run apiece in the second, third and fourth and then posted five runs in the sixth to take an 8-1 lead.
Silber exited and Bellarmine roughed up the Falcons' bullpen. In the seventh, Wiley followed Greenwood's RBI double with his three-run blast. Lines and Greenwood added RBIs in the eighth as the Knights trimmed their deficit to 9-7. However, with one out and runners on second and third, Montevallo got out of the jam.
Bellarmine went down in order in the ninth. Kale Latorre earned the save after closing the game with the team's 16th strikeout.
Bellarmine plays the second of three games at Montevallo at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday.
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