LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The fireworks Griffin Neuer provided to end Sunday's opener lasted into the finale's start.

The Bellarmine University baseball team followed the senior left fielder's walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning of a thrilling 5-4 victory over McKendree by scoring four times in the first of a 5-2 win in a Great Lakes Valley Conference sweep at Knights Field.

It was the first day of GLVC competition for Bellarmine (14-6, 2-0) and McKendree (4-15, 0-2). The Knights have now won eight of their last nine games with six coming against GLVC teams, although only the Bearcats contests counted toward the league standings.

Although there wasn't necessarily a ton of scoring in the opener, there was plenty of action as the teams combined for 24 hits. McKendree scored twice in the seventh to knot the game at 4, and neither squad scored over the next two innings.

In the 10th, the Bearcats loaded the bases with two outs before senior right-hander Duncan Amrein (1-0) induced an inning-ending fly out. Bellarmine then began the bottom half with promise as junior designated hitter Zac Wiley led off with a single up the middle.

Junior third baseman Josh Finerty advanced freshman pinch runner Justin Rouse to second with a sacrifice bunt. That set up Neuer, who rifled a line drive toward the right-field corner on a 1-2 pitch for a base hit that easily scored Rouse with the winning run.

Neuer went 3 for 5 with a double in the first game. Senior second baseman Alex Ralph doubled, tripled and had two RBIs while Wiley and junior center fielder Alex Phillips added two hits apiece.

Junior left-hander Eddie Mathis started and got the no-decision. He allowed two earned runs on nine hits and struck out nine in 5.2 innings. Senior right-hander Yancey Pritchett tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief before Amrein entered and collected the win.

Bellarmine did nearly all of its damage offensively in the first inning of the tail end, exploding for four runs on four hits. Wiley ripped a two-run single up the middle with the bases loaded, Finerty laced an RBI single to left and junior first baseman Tyler Neeley lofted a sacrifice fly.

Sophomore right-hander Jacob Nagel (3-1) made good on the big lead, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Phillips notched his first save by striking out the side in the seventh.

Greenwood and Neuer both had a pair of hits in the finale. Neuer roped a two-out RBI triple in the fifth to bring in a valuable insurance run.

Bellarmine hosts McKendree in another doubleheader starting at noon (ET) Monday.

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GAME 1 BOX SCORE (HTM)
GAME 2 BOX SCORE (HTM)