LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a pop-up rain shower suspended play on Friday, Bellarmine softball splits its home opening day "doubleheader" with University of Evansville on Saturday afternoon, winning game one 14-3 before falling 8-5 in extra-innings in game two at Knights Field.
"I thought we had a lot of great production from our offense today," Bellarmine head coach
Caitlyn de la Haba said. "We did a great job of coming back from behind in the second game, we just needed to keep our energy up a little longer and finish a little bit better but, overall, I thought it was a really strong day."
Game One
The first game of Saturday's "doubleheader" began on Friday afternoon but was suspended due to heavy rain. On Friday, Bellarmine jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after drawing five straight walks in the bottom of the first inning.
When the game resumed Saturday morning, the Knights picked up right where they left off. Sophomore
Madison Davis drove a single through the left side for more runs before freshman
Genevieve Chiellini drew the sixth walk of the inning, scoring another run. The Knights continued to pile on, scoring a run each on two wild pitches. Bellarmine added one final run in the first on a double steal of second and home, pushing its lead to 7-0.
The second inning was no different for Bellarmine as the Knights pounded Evansville for six more runs. The team got RBI hits from junior
Serenity Shemwell, grad student
Olivia Bricker, junior
Kayla Bauer and junior
Chloe Collins in the inning to extend their lead to 13-0.
Evansville was finally able to get into the score column in the third and fourth innings, scoring three runs total to cut the deficit to 10, still down 13-3.
Bellarmine answered in the home half of the fourth, plating a final run on an RBI single courtesy of freshman
Brooke Shewmaker before sitting the Purple Aces down in order in the fifth to secure the 14-3 mercy rule win.
Game Two
In game two, Evansville got on the best of Bellarmine early, scoring a run in the first two innings of the game to jump out to a 5-0 lead.
The Knights were silent on offense until the fourth inning when the team mounted a fervent rally. Junior
Megan Konermann got the effort started with a one out single through the left side, followed by a walk drawn by Shemwell. With two outs in the inning, Davis stepped to the plate and delivered a two RBI double off the fence in left field. Freshman
Nicole Waters followed suit with a single to left to score Davis while advancing to second on the throw home. Waters moved herself even closer to scoring after stealing third on a pitch in the dirt. Bauer finally brought Waters home with another RBI single to left. Shewmaker drew a walk in the following at-bat before junior
Harlie Bickett delivered a fifth hit into left field to score Bauer and tie the game 5-5.
Neither team was able to retake the lead in regulation as the game headed into extra-innings where the Purple Aces would deliver a final three-run blow in the top of the eighth to claim the win, 8-5.
The Knights continue their opening weekend at Knight's field with two more games tomorrow. The slate will kick off with a contest against St. Bonaventure at 10:30 a.m. and conclude with a third meeting with Evansville at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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