The Bellarmine University softball team got off to a hot start in the first inning, but were unable to hold off the Stetson Hatters in Sunday afternoon action in DeLand, Fla.  With this result, the Knights fall to 11-17 overall and 3-3 in ASUN conference play on the season.  Stetson moves to 12-19 overall and also sits at 3-3 in ASUN play.

The Knights fired the first shot of the afternoon, as following back-to-back singles by Chloe Collins and Megan Konermann, Serenity Shemwell stepped up to the plate and delivered a triple homer over the center field wall to give Bellarmine the early 3-0 advantage in the first inning.  Stetson quickly responded however, scoring a triple home-run of their own and then adding two more runs to take a 5-3 lead after one inning of play.

The game became a pitchers' duel for the next three innings as neither team was able to get much going at the plate.  In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights were able to pull within one run when Harlie Bickett hit a solo home run over the left center field wall, but Stetson again had an answer as two home runs of their own and a double RBI in the bottom of the fifth put Bellarmine into a 9-4 hole going into the sixth inning.

After the Knights were unable to cut further into the lead in the top of the sixth, Stetson extended their lead to 12-4 in the bottom of the sixth by way of an RBI double and two RBI singles to end the game.

The Knights will be back in action next Thursday, March 28 at 7 PM for the first of a three game series at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn.  The series is scheduled to be played on Thursday, Friday at 4 PM, and Saturday at 1:30 PM.

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