LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University baseball team's first Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader followed the same theme that developed in its non-league contests.
Namely, the Knights won big in one game and lost another in close fashion.
On Sunday at St. Xavier High School, Bellarmine cranked five homers in its GLVC opener in thumping McKendree 13-3, but the Knights followed with a narrow 4-3 loss.
After Sunday's first game, Bellarmine (8-7, 1-1 GLVC) had scored 10 runs or more in its last seven victories. However, in the tail end against McKendree (3-8, 1-1), the Knights dropped to 0-5 in games decided by two runs or less.
Game 1: Bellarmine 13, McKendree 3
This game largely came down to Bellarmine home runs and
Eddie Mathis' pitching. The Knights piled up five round-trippers, including three two-run homers.
Bellarmine took full advantage of a fierce wind blowing out to right field. Four of the Knights' five homers were launched in that direction, all opposite-field blasts. The long-ball display began in the first when senior right fielder
Zac Wiley lifted a two-run shot to right center, and junior third baseman
Deylen Miley immediately followed with a solo shot down the right-field line.
In the second inning, senior first baseman
Tyler Neeley tagged a two-run homer to right and, later in the inning, Wiley swatted his second two-run drive of the game to right for a 7-1 lead. Junior catcher
Chris Gambert made sure it wasn't too lonely out in left center in the fifth, parking a two-run homer in that area of the field as the Knights led 10-1 at the end of the frame.
The 10-run rule was in effect, so Bellarmine sealed the win in seven innings. Mathis cruised through those, tossing a complete game while allowing two earned runs on eight hits. The senior left-hander struck out eight against one walk and improved to 3-1 on the season.
Wiley finished 3 for 3 with four RBIs as the Knights racked up 12 hits. Along with his homer, Neeley added a two-run double and went 2 for 3 with four RBIs. Gambert and sophomore shortstop
Clayton Mehlbauer also had two hits. Wiley and Miley raised their respective home-run totals to four, Neeley tallied his third and, with another long ball in the second game, Gambert boosted his output to three.
Game 2: McKendree 4, Bellarmine 3
Bellarmine got off to a rough start as McKendree scored three times in the first inning and added another run in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.
Gambert crushed a pinch-hit, two-run homer off the scoreboard in left to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the seventh, but the Knights couldn't get the tying run across. They had the tying run on second with one out in the ninth, but the Bearcats recorded a pair of ground outs to sew up the win.
Wiley and senior center fielder
Alex Phillips both went 2 for 3 and combined for half of Bellarmine's eight hits.
Junior left-hander
Shane Barringer, junior right-hander
Anthony Ethington and sophomore right-hander
Brandon Pfaadt combined for 5.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Bellarmine hosts McKendree in a single game at noon (ET) Monday at Knights Field.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights), Facebook (BUKnights) and the BUKnights mobile app available for iPhone and Android.
