OWENSBORO, Ky.—The Bellarmine softball team stepped out of conference play for a doubleheader at Kentucky Wesleyan on Monday, but the results were the same as their last five twin bills: a victory in the opener, but a loss in game two.
Against the Panthers, Bellarmine escaped game one with a 2-1 win in a contest that went 10 innings and saw the Knights get outhit 13-5. Then, in the tail end, Bellarmine had a comeback bid fall short as it dropped a 3-2 decision.
In the opener, the Knights' offense produced just one hit over the first six innings, but junior
Rachel Ayer led off the top of the seventh to tie the score 1-1 and force extra innings.
With no score in either the eighth or ninth innings, the game moved to an international tiebreaker in the 10th. Bellarmine placed pinch runner
Kaleigh Oskin to lead off the inning. After advancing on a fly ball to right, Oskin was at third base with two out when her twin sister,
Sydney Oskin, came to the plate and delivered a single left to drive in the go-ahead run.
In the home half of the 10th, the Panthers may have run themselves out of a victory. Starting with a runner at second, the KWC leadoff batter stroked a single to right center and the runner tried to score from second but was thrown out easily by Bellarmine's
Joelle Zielinski. The next Panther batter smacked a double to left, but with runners on second and third with just one out, the Knights escaped with a ground out to third and a strikeout.
Bellarmine's
Natalie Magnus picked up the victory in relief of
Sabrina Fussenegger to improve to 3-2 on the season.
In game two, the Knights took advantage of a Kentucky Wesleyan error that extended the third inning as Ayer delivered an RBI single to stake BU to a 1-0 lead.
However, in the bottom of the fourth, the Knights returned the favor with an error that led to a run as KWC scored twice in the frame to take a 2-1 lead.
The home team tacked on another run in bottom of the sixth to head to the last inning with a 3-1 lead.
Bellarmine mounted a rally as
Grace Werner reached on an error and Ayer rapped her second base hit of the game. While the Knights scored on a grounder to the pitcher, a second consecutive ground out ended the game.
The Knights move to 22-23 on the season while KWC improves to 19-24.
Bellarmine returns to Great Lakes Valley Conference action for its last two regular season doubleheaders. The Knights travel to Indianapolis on Saturday for a noon twin bill and conclude regular season play at Lewis on Sunday with a pair of games slated for a 1 p.m. start.
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.
HTM BOX SCORE GAME 1
HTM BOX SCORE GAME 2
