LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Knights softball team will head to Missouri this weekend for its first conference road trip, taking on Maryville on Friday and Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday.
After going an even 2-2 this past weekend, the Knights will enter the road trip with a record of 13-12 on the season and 2-2 in GLVC play. The Saints of Maryville enter Friday's doubleheader with an overall record of 18-9 and record of 3-1 in league play.
Bellarmine split last season's games against the Saints. In a low-scoring affair, the Knights were able to muster two runs in the bottom of the fifth of game one to take the lead for good in a 2-1 victory. In game two, the Saints scored a heap of runs in the middle innings to take control of the game in a 6-1 win.
Maryville as a team is hitting a whopping .339 so far this season. Alyssa Callans leads the team with a .464 batting average. In the middle of the order the Saints have a couple of power threats. Jaclyn Pasakarnis has racked up 20 RBI and 12 doubles, while Bri Livingston has driven in 27 RBI and hit five round-trippers. The Saints are also very aggressive on the base paths, swiping a total of 63 bases on 71 attempts so far this season.
On Saturday, the Knights will travel to Missouri-St. Louis to take on the Tritons who enter the weekend with a 12-14 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the GLVC.
In last year's matchups, the Tritons were victorious in a pair of one-run games. In game one, Missouri-St. Louis scored one run in the top of the first and that was all they needed in a pitcher's duel that ended with a 1-0 final score. In game two, Bellarmine jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but a five-spot in the top of the fifth for the Tritons gave them the lead for good as they squeaked out a 6-5 win.
Chelsea Martinez stands out offensively for Missouri-St. Louis, leading the Tritons in nearly every offensive category. She is batting .387 on the season and has recorded three home runs, 10 doubles, and 14 RBI. In the circle, the Tritons are led by the duo of Carly Kingery and Andee Tiffee. Kingery has tossed 10 complete games, including three shutouts in her 13 games started with an ERA of 2.44. Tiffee has thrown four complete games with an ERA of 2.83 in 54 innings pitched.
Sabrina Fussenegger will look to build on her pitching performance this past Sunday against McKendree. The Louisville, Kentucky native allowed just two runs over 11 innings pitched in the doubleheader. The Assumption High School product leads the Knights pitching staff with five complete games and three shutouts.
Olivia Knies also looks to stymie opposing offenses this weekend just like she has in her last two appearances in which she has allowed just one run and four hits in 5.2 innings pitched.
Offensively, the Knights have several bats that have been hot of late.
Rachel Ayer went 6-for-11 in last weekend's games and is sporting a .386 batting average so far this season.
Sydney Oskin and
Grace Werner will look to continue their stellar freshman campaigns. Oskin is hitting .358 and has added 10 RBI. Werner is batting .317 with one home run, eight RBI, and 12 stolen bases.
Samantha Smith has been a major power threat in the middle of the order all year for Bellarmine with five big flies and 24 RBI.
Allison Woosley and
Hannah Webb have both added 11 RBI for the Knights.
First pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) for Friday's doubleheader against Maryville and Noon CT (1 p.m. ET) for Saturday's doubleheader against Missouri-St. Louis.
(NOTE: The originally published schedule had the Maryville doubleheader on Sunday but was moved to Friday due to weather concerns.)
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