GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Saturday marked the second game in a row the Knights (1-2) faced North Dakota (1-2), but the Hawks had the early offense this go-around. Jocelyn Kirk jump-started the Hawks' hitting with a leadoff single in the top of the first inning. Two batters later, Mariah Peters hit an RBI double to left field, bringing Kirk in for the first run of the game. Peters then scored on a ball to shortstop from Madison Pederson.
Peters did more damage for North Dakota in the third inning, drawing a lead-off walk and later coming in to score a Bellarmine error. Chevelle Sartin tacked on one more for North Dakota in the fourth inning, starting the inning with a double. Sartin moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored off a wild pitch to make it 4-0 North Dakota.
Bellarmine could not get the bats rolling like it did in Friday's game against North Dakota. The Knights put together just two hits and five base-runners. The first base knock came from
Anna Greenwell, who posted a single to left field in the third inning. Greenwell has at least one hit in all three games this season.
Megan Konermann,
Grace Werner, and
Kayla Bauer all drew walks, but it was Bauer's that proved to be the most productive. Bauer walked with one out in the seventh inning, and
Alexis Hargrove belted the first Bellarmine home run of the season to right-center field scoring two runs. That sliced the lead in half with two outs in the final inning. BU could not bring the tying run to the plate, however, and dropped game three of the tournament 4-2.
Hargrove's home run was the eighth of her career and third in the Division I era. Greenwell and Werner are now tied for the team lead with four hits each through three games.
The Knights used three pitchers on Saturday, beginning with
Megan Murphy. The senior exited after just one out in the first inning and was replaced by
Carson Goatley. After tossing six innings in the season opener, Goatley went four and two-thirds of relief. Junior
Kaylee Terral also saw action, making her season debut. Terral pitched the final two innings for Bellarmine, keeping North Dakota hitless during that stretch.
Bellarmine closes out the Paladin Invitational with two games on Sunday against Maryland Eastern-Shore at 11:30 a.m. and host Furman at 2:00 p.m. The matchup with Furman can be viewed on ESPN+.
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