LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Although not a true doubleheader, the Bellarmine Knights softball team secured a split today, knocking off Dayton 7-4 before falling to the IUPUI Jaguars 6-3 in the late game.
The Knights (4-7) fell behind early in the opener against Dayton, but Bellarmine claimed the lead for good in the home half of the first inning.
After the Flyers opened the game with two runs on three hits, the Knights had an immediate answer.
Grace Werner doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, and
Hannah Webb laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Werner to third.
Alexis Hargrove drew a walk, and Syndey Young crushed a line drive that clanged off the fair pole in left field for a 3-run "dinger," which also describes the sound the ball made in striking the pole.
From there, Bellarmine added to its lead in the second inning when back-to-back Dayton errors plated
Carley Ziegler and Werner who had both singled.
The Flyers fought back in the top of the third as Alyssa Cacini drove in a pair of runs with a triple to right.
However, freshman pitcher
Carson Goatley blanked Dayton the rest of the way, and the Knights added two runs in the fourth as Young collected another RBI with a single and Goatley helped her own cause with a sacrifice fly.
Goatley went the distance to pick up her second collegiate win, surrendering three earned runs while striking out five without issuing a free pass.
Offensively, Werner was 4-for-4 to collect half of the Knights' eight base hits in the game, and Young finished 2-4 with a homer and four RBIs.
Against the Jaguars, Bellarmine fell behind 6-1 and a seventh inning rally came up short as the Knights scored two in the final frame but stranded a pair of baserunners as IUPUI held on for the win.
Again, Young and Werner paced the Bellarmine offense. Werner went 3-for-4 and scored two of Bellarmine's three runs while Young went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs. Webb also had a strong game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI while also collecting another sacrifice.
Megan Murphy went the distance in the circle for the Knights and took the loss to drop to 1-2 on the season.
After opening with 11 straight home games, the Knights hit the road for their next six games. Bellarmine will travel the four miles to the University of Louisville to take on the Cardinals in a single game on Tuesday before making its ASUN Conference debut with a three-game set at North Alabama on March 13-14 and taking on the University of Tennessee in a doubleheader on March 16.
