LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Baseball defies all manner of logic and reason.

Bellarmine was mired in the mystique Saturday in Atlantic Sun Conference action at Knights Field, as BU was pounded 15-2 by North Alabama in the first game of a doubleheader and then appeared doomed in the tail end before roaring back from a 7-0 deficit to capture a 12-11 victory on, of all things, a walk-off wild pitch.

Then again, perhaps it was fitting that the deciding play had "wild" in its characterization. That certainly was an apt description of the first two games of this ASUN series.

Facing a 7-0 hole in the tail end after the top of the third, Bellarmine (6-28, 5-9 ASUN) got untracked — really for the first time on the day — with a four-run bottom half. That frame triggered the comeback bid against the Lions (12-20, 4-10), and the Knights would find themselves with a chance to win in the ninth with the score knotted at 11.

Senior third baseman Reed Blaszczyk drew a walk leading off and stole second. With one out, junior designated hitter Jacob Rowold singled and junior right fielder Jackson Case loaded the bases with a walk. Caleb Menina then recorded a strikeout, but his pitch was in the dirt and skipped away from catcher Levi Jensen.

Blaszczyk raced for home and reached the plate before the throw with the winning run, as the Knights jubilantly celebrated their improbable split.

Bellarmine largely used small ball to begin its comeback. Junior first baseman Casey Sorg slapped an RBI single to get the Knights on the board in the third, but BU then scored on a wild pitch, bases-loaded walk by Case and an RBI ground out by sophomore catcher Charlie Rife to cut the deficit to 7-4.

RBI singles by Sorg and sophomore shortstop Luke Scales, who had a standout day defensively, put Bellarmine within 8-6 in the fourth. Trailing 9-6, Scales delivered an RBI single in the sixth, and senior center fielder Will Aubel tied it up in the seventh at 9 after swatting a two-run triple.

Bellarmine was down 11-9 in the eighth when Rife clubbed a two-out RBI double, and Aubel forced in the tying run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Senior right-hander Nolan Pender, who earned the win, then retired the side in order in the top of the ninth on just five pitches, the latter three on a strikeout.

Bellarmine racked up 14 hits in the tail end. Aubel and Scales registered three apiece, while Sorg and Rowold notched two each.

The first game was a wash for Bellarmine. North Alabama scored four runs each in the first and third innings, launched five homers in the contest and cruised to the win.

Blaszczyk cranked an RBI double and followed by roping his fifth home run of the season, but there wasn't much of note offensively beyond that — that is, until Game 2.

The rubber game will unfold at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday at Knights Field.

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