OZARK, Mo. — The postseason is often referred to as a "new season," but Thursday looked a whole like the end of the regular season for the Bellarmine University baseball team.

And that resemblance was certainly a good thing.

In the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, seven-seed Bellarmine scored six runs over the first two innings and largely cruised to a 12-4 victory over two-seed Maryville at US Baseball Park.

After winning its fifth straight game, Bellarmine (30-19) will meet Southern Indiana (30-19) at 5 p.m. (ET) Friday. The sixth-seeded Screaming Eagles defeated three-seed Missouri S&T 5-4 in Round 1.

With Thursday's victory over Maryville (27-21), Bellarmine locked up its third straight 30-win season. The Knights also secured a fourth consecutive year in which they won at least one game in the GLVC Tournament.

Bellarmine pounced on Maryville starter Cody Creed (5-6) from the get-go, as senior center fielder Alex Phillips singled and sophomore left fielder Matt Higgins smashed a two-run homer on consecutive pitches to begin the first inning. Phillips then pushed in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the second, Higgins lifted a sacrifice fly and junior catcher Chris Gambert punched a two-run single for a 6-0 lead.

After becoming the program's all-time career pitching wins leader in a 9.0-inning complete-game victory over Illinois Springfield on Sunday, Eddie Mathis was back on the mound against Maryville and added to his total. The senior left-hander improved to 9-2 this season after allowing four earned runs on 11 hits with eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.

Junior right-hander Anthony Ethington recorded the final out in the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth, and junior left-hander Shane Barringer wrapped up the victory with a scoreless ninth. For the 13th time in 14 games, Bellarmine's staff limited an opponent to five runs or less.

Maryville never mounted a serious threat against Bellarmine after the Knights ripped out to the 6-0 lead after two innings, but Saints reliever Ryan Louck didn't let it get out of hand either. After six innings, Bellarmine led 7-2 but senior first baseman Tyler Neeley was able to create the comfortable distance the Knights were seeking when he drilled a three-run homer. Phillips tacked on a two-run double in the ninth to cap the scoring.

Bellarmine racked up 16 hits. Sophomore third baseman Jacob Mulcahy went 4 for 5 while Neeley and Phillips were both 3 for 5 with three RBIs. Higgins also collected three RBIs and had two hits, as did Gambert and sophomore shortstop Clayton Mehlbauer. Higgins went deep for the 11th time this season while Neeley registered his 13th long ball.

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.