CHARLESTON, S.C. – Bellarmine softball scored early and battled hard on the diamond but was unable to secure a victory on day two of the CSU Kickoff Tournament, losing both games on the day.
 
The Knights (1-3) held early leads against tough competition in both Siena College (1-2) and Saint Francis University (3-0) but were ultimately derailed, losing game one 4-3 in extra innings to Siena and game two 8-5 to Saint Francis.
 
"I'm really proud of how we played today," said Bellarmine head coach Caitlyn de la Haba. " In both games, we did a great job of answering back on offense when we got behind and we have been in a position to win at the end of every game and that's what we want."
 
Game One
 
For the first time this weekend, Bellarmine's opponent got on the score board first as Siena plated a run in the bottom of the first inning, crossing the plate on a passed ball.
 
The Knights answered immediately, putting up runs of their own in the next frame. With two outs in the inning, grad student Olivia Bricker singled through the right side, advancing junior Serenity Shemwell, who walked earlier, to second base before sophomore Madison Davis drew her own walk to load the bases. Freshman Brooke Shewmaker stepped to the plate in her first collegiate at-bat and lined a single into the outfield grass, bringing home Shemwell to tie the game 1-1. Junior Harlie Bicket brought one more run in to score taking a hit by pitch to give BU a 2-1 lead.
 
From there, the game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Saints scratched across two more runs to retake the lead at 3-2.
 
Siena's lead did not last long as Shemwell stepped up and launched a solo home run to lead off the sixth inning and tie the game 3-3. The homer is the first of the season for Bellarmine and Shemwell's first as a Knight.
 
Tied 3-3 after seven innings, the game went into extra innings. Bellarmine was able to get to runners in scoring position, but the threat would come to pass with no damage done. In the bottom of the inning, Siena took advantage of the placed runner and scored a run to secure a 4-3 win.
 
Game Two
 
In what has become their MO this weekend, the Knights got in the score column first. Junior Chloe Collins got the offense going early, plating a run with a two out, RBI single to center field to take a 1-0 lead.
 
The offense continued to roll in the second. Each of the first three Knights up in the inning reached base safely as Bricker drew a leadoff walk, followed by back-to-back singles from freshman Genevieve Chiellini and Davis. After the first out of the inning, Shewmaker continued her hot day at the plate, ripping a single into right field to score Bricker and Chiellini. In the next at-bat, the Knights pulled off a double steal as Shewmaker took off for second, Davis was able to successfully steal home and plate another run and push the Bellarmine lead to four, up 4-0.
 
Over its next three at-bats, Saint Francis racked up eight unanswered runs, scoring two in second and three in each of the third and fourth innings to take an 8-4 lead.
 
Bellarmine tried to mount a rally in the seventh, plating another run in the seventh, courtesy of Shewmaker, but ultimately fell short, dropping the game 8-5.
 
The Knights will wrap up the CSU Kickoff Tournament with one final game tomorrow, Sunday Feb. 11 as they take on host Charleston Southern for a second time. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 pm E.T.
 
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