LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University baseball team was swept 12-3 and 11-4 by Jacksonville State in an ASUN doubleheader Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Bellarmine dropped to 7-16 overall and 2-3 in ASUN play, while Jacksonville State improved to 12-11 and 5-0.
Game 1: Jacksonville State 12, Bellarmine 3
The teams were knotted at 3 after six innings, but Jacksonville State took control with a four-run seventh. A Bellarmine error opened the door for three of those runs in the frame to be unearned.
Jacksonville State plated three more runs in the eighth and two in the ninth as the contest was much more competitive than the final score indicated. The Gamecocks racked up 14 hits in the opener.
Junior designated hitter
Reed Blaszczyk and sophomore right fielder
Casey Sorg cranked back-to-back solo homers in the first. It was the sixth home run of the season for Blaszczyk and the fifth for Sorg.
Blaszczyk added a game-tying RBI double in the sixth, but Jacksonville State closed the contest with nine unanswered runs. Blaszczyk, Sorg, senior second baseman
Peyton Back and senior center fielder
Will Aubel collected two hits each.
Senior right-hander
Nolan Pender delivered a quality start, as only three of the seven runs he allowed in 6.2 innings were earned. JSU's AJ Causey notched the win while allowing three earned runs and striking out 12 in 7.0 innings.
Game 2: Jacksonville State 11, Bellarmine 4
Jacksonville State hit three two-run homers in the first three innings to jump out to a 6-0 lead, and the Knights were never able to trim the deficit below four. The Gamecocks went deep four times overall in the tail end.
Blaszczyk had an RBI single in the third, junior first baseman
Davis Crane smacked a two-run double on an 11-pitch at-bat in the fifth and Aubel hammered a solo homer to dead center in the sixth for his fourth round-tripper of the season.
Senior left fielder
Tommy Dilz went 3-for-4 while Crane added a pair of hits. Freshman right-hander
Luke Scales tossed 1.0 scoreless inning of relief.
The teams will conclude the three-game series at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday at Knights Field.
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