COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Three newcomers combined for four home runs as the Bellarmine University baseball team got off to a roaring start to its 2024 campaign with an 11-3 victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday at Averitt Express Baseball Complex.

In their respective debuts for Bellarmine (1-0), junior designated hitter Matt Flaherty launched a pair of homers while junior center fielder Jacob Rowold and junior second baseman Andres Castro smacked one each against Tennessee Tech (0-1).

Bellarmine piled up 13 hits and scored in all but two innings. The Knights built a 7-0 lead and cruised from there.

Flaherty homered in his first two Bellarmine at-bats. He cranked a three-run shot in the first inning and a solo shot in the third to stake the Knights to a 5-0 lead.

After Tennessee Tech got on the board with a pair of runs in the fourth, Rowold swatted a solo homer in the sixth. Castro followed the next inning with a two-run blast to push the lead to 10-3.

Senior left fielder Reed Blaszczyk doubled among his three hits, and sophomore third baseman Brady Morse had a two-bagger among his two hits. Senior first baseman Davis Crane drove in a pair of runs while junior right fielder Casey Sorg and sophomore catcher Charlie Rife contributed RBI singles.

Bellarmine's pitching staff walked 10 but did an exceptional job of either escaping trouble or minimizing the damage. In his first start for the Knights, junior right-hander Cooper Hellman (1-0) fanned five in 3.0 scoreless innings.

Senior right-hander Ross Goldschlag, also making his Bellarmine debut, tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Senior right-hander Devin Ecklar sewed it up with 2.0 shutout innings.

Game 2 of the series is set for 3 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

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