CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Bellarmine university softball team (1-4) was unable to overcome a late push by Charleston Southern (3-3), losing its final game of the opening weekend CSU Kickoff Tournament.
 
The Knights were able to stay within striking distance for most of the contest but, a late inning surge from the Buccaneers ultimately cost the team the win as they wrapped up their first weekend of play.
 
"We have two weeks to fix some things that we are very much in control of," said Bellarmine head coach Caitlyn de la Haba. "We are looking forward to the next two weeks of practice so we can come out even better in Florida."
 
After a quick first inning from both sides, Charleston Southern broke the stalemate in the top of the second, scoring a run for an early 1-0 lead.
 
Bellarmine was not down long though as the Knights rallied for a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Serenity Shemwell got the at-bat started with a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a successful sacrifice bunt from freshman Nicole Waters. Next, grad student Olivia Bricker stepped to the plate and drove the ball into right field to score Shemwell and even the score 1-1.
 
Charleston Southern struck again in the fourth inning for two more runs, stringing together a couple of hits while taking advantage of a Bellarmine error to retake the lead, 3-1.
 
The Knights finally answered in the home half of the sixth, plating a run on an RBI single courtesy of Waters to get back within striking distance, down 3-2.
 
Momentum would soon shift back in favor of the Bucs as they put up another two runs in the top of the seventh before shutting down the Knights in the bottom half of the inning, securing their 5-2 win.
 
Bellarmine will have the next two weeks off before the team heads to Madeira Beach, Fl. for a five-game weekend in The Spring Games.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow @BUKnights on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.