LOUISVILLE, Ky.— Bellarmine softball opened its ASUN slate at home on Saturday against Jacksonville. The Knights were in mostly very competitive games, but the Dolphins took the first two in a three-game series.
Jacksonville used a late rally in game one to win 4-3 in extra innings and piled on several runs late in game two, emerging with an 11-2 victory.
Game 1
The first five innings were quite strong for Bellarmine in their first game of ASUN play. Behind
Carson Goatley in the circle, the Knights used excellent pitching and defense, along with timely hits, to push ahead 2-0.
The first run came from
Chloe Collins in the second, smashing a solo shot over the left field fence. Collins' home run was her third in the last six games.
The Knights tacked on one more in the third with back-to-back doubles from
Hannah Webb and
Sarah Ratterman. Webb's was sent out to left field, while Ratterman scored Webb with her drive going to right-center field.
Jacksonville rallied in the sixth, quickly erasing a 2-0 deficit. Tori Rodebaugh began the inning with a double to left-center. Two batters later, Kari Holzrichter snuck a home run over the left field fence to tie the game 2-2. Joely Leguizmon singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a throwing error, putting herself in prime position to score the go-ahead run. Goatley induced an inning-ending fly out to left field though, and Bellarmine entered the bottom of the sixth tied 2-2.
Chloe Collins started the inning with a walk, and
Joelle Zielinski pinch ran for her. Zielinksi moved all the way up to third base with the help of an
Anna Greenwell sacrifice bunt and
Emily O'Dee single, but was left stranded at third.
Logan Keith began the seventh with another home run for Jacksonville, giving the Dolphins a 3-2 advantage. In the home half of the seventh, Bellarmine had one out and no runners on base when
Alexis Hargrove stepped in to pinch-hit. Hargrove drilled her fourth home run of the season to left field to tie the game.
Jacksonville had yet another answer, however, starting with a single from Caroline Watson in the top of the eighth inning. Chloe Lee stepped in to pinch run, and the Dolphins brought Harrigan to the plate with two outs. Harrigan doubled to center field to score Lee and move JU in front 4-3.
Bellarmine brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the home half after Collins and
Megan Konermann singled. Back-to-back fly outs to left field, however, ended the game and locked in a 4-3 Jacksonville win.
Seven different Bellarmine players picked up a hit in game. Collins advanced her hit streak to six games.
Carson Goatley tossed the first six innings for Bellarmine, allowing three runs, striking out six, and walking just two in her home debut. Skylar Whitty pitched a complete game for Jacksonville and nabbed her fifth win of the season.
Game 2
Game two also began promising for Bellarmine, with the Knights holding a 2-1 lead after four innings.
Bellarmine struck first with a two-out single to center field from Webb that scored Werner from second base.
Jacksonville tied the game 1-1 the next inning with a Rodebaugh solo home run to center field. Bellarmine's half inning began with a Collins walk and another appearance from Zielinksi to pinch run. Late in the inning, with two outs,
Sydney Young singled down the left field line to score Zielinski and give Bellarmine a 2-1 lead.
The Dolphins began to accelerate in the fifth, however, scoring two runs to move ahead 3-2 with the help of four hits. They racked up five more hits in the sixth to score four runs, and piled on four additional runs in the seventh with the help of two solo home runs from Madison Kennedy and Leguizamon.
Webb picked up her third three-hit game of the season, while Collins walked a career-high three times.
Claire Lehmkuhler pitched six innings for the Knights including the first 5.1 innings and also the final two outs. Goatley returned to the circle to pitch one inning for the Knights in game two.
Bellarmine wraps up its ASUN-opening series with Jacksonville on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The game can be streamed on BU Knights Sports Network with Tom Lane on the call.
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