ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — Zac Wiley delivered a powerful reminder Saturday at Lewis as to why he's been among the most feared hitters in the Great Lakes Valley Conference over the course of his career.

The Bellarmine University senior right fielder was struggling at the plate for most of the doubleheader, but, in his final at-bat, he proved why he's a serious threat every time he steps in the batter's box — whether he's hot or cold — drilling a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning of the tail end to lead the Knights to a 6-5 victory and a split after the Flyers captured the opener, 10-6.

A strong start by senior right-hander Kyle Beach and splendid relief work by freshman right-hander Reece Davis and junior left-hander Shane Barringer were critical in the Game 2 victory for Bellarmine (19-15, 10-9 GLVC) against the Flyers (14-16, 9-10).

Game 1: Lewis 10, Bellarmine 6
In the opener, Bellarmine struggled to keep Lewis in the ballpark. The Flyers cracked a pair of solo homers in the second, a two-run homer in the fifth and another two-run homer in the eighth.

The latter long ball came in the midst of a five-run eighth inning which began with the Knights holding a 6-5 lead and ended with Lewis ahead 10-6.

Senior first baseman Tyler Neeley belted a two-run homer — his seventh of the season — in the second to give Bellarmine a 2-0 lead, and senior second Trevor Lines led off the fifth with his first collegiate homer for a 3-2 advantage. Lines added a go-ahead two-run single in Bellarmine's three-run eighth, but the Flyers followed in the bottom half by erasing the Knights' 6-5 lead behind five runs on five hits.

Bellarmine had 10 hits in the game. Senior center fielder Alex Phillips collected three of them while sophomore left fielder Matt Higgins and Lines contributed two each, with Lines tallying three RBIs.

Game 2: Bellarmine 6, Lewis 5
Bellarmine trailed 4-3 heading into the ninth inning, and the first Knight was retired in the final frame. However, after a pitching change, Bellarmine got some life after Phillips was hit by a pitch and Higgins followed with a single.

The Flyers made another pitching change in anticipation of facing Wiley, who at that point was 0 for 4. Brushing those difficulties aside, the All-GLVC fixture worked a 2-1 count and then unloaded on the ensuing pitch, cranking a three-run homer that vaulted the Knights into the lead at 6-4.

The long ball marked the 10th of the year for Wiley, a new career high after he launched nine in each of his previous two seasons. Perhaps even more impressive is that, on that home run, the Knights slugger exceeded his previous career-best RBI total (49 currently, 47 in 2018) with plenty of games remaining.

Bellarmine couldn't exhale after Wiley's go-ahead shot, as the Knights committed back-to-back errors to start the bottom of the ninth. Davis followed with a critical play, gunning down the lead runner at third on a sacrifice bunt attempt.

After an RBI single cut Bellarmine's lead to 6-5, Davis fanned the next hitter for the second out. Barringer, who three days prior earned a victory over Indianapolis in a 7.0-inning start, entered and locked up the win with a strikeout. It was his first save at Bellarmine.

Davis (1-2) earned his first collegiate win while not allowing an earned run in 2.2 innings. Beach struck out a career-high 10 batters. The righty allowed four earned runs on five hits in 6.0 innings.

Chris Gambert did a lot of the heavy lifting for Bellarmine's offense before the ninth. The junior catcher went deep twice, cranking solo shots to lead off both the second and sixth innings. He pushed his round-tripper total to nine — roughly one every three games.

Gambert, Higgins and Lines had two hits apiece.

The teams will play the series finale beginning at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday.

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