CHARLESTON, S.C. – Playing in warm, sunny weather for the first time in months, the Bellarmine University softball team opened its 2025 season with two games at the CSU Kickoff Tournament. The Knights opened the day with a 7-1 loss to Georgetown before taking an exciting 4-3 win over Charleston Southern to end the day thanks to a clutch home run off the bat of Megan Konermann.
 
With the split day, Bellarmine opens the season with a 1-1 record.
 
"I'm really proud of how we bounced back in game 2 today. We played much better defense, got great pitching, and had timely hitting, and that's what it takes to beat good teams," head coach Caitlyn de la Haba said of her team's effort. "Megan hitting that home run at the end was icing on the cake, and I'm so happy for her that she came through in that moment. There were a lot of bright spots in that game, and it definitely showed us what we are capable of moving forward when we have all of our pieces working together."
 
Game One
 
In the first game of the day, Georgetown jumped on top in the opening frame, scoring on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Harlie Bickett got the Knights started with a leadoff walk in the home half of the inning before stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch to Bellarmine in prime scoring position with no outs. The threat would come to pass however as BU would go down in order to end the inning.
 
The Hoyas struck again in the next two innings, tacking on two runs in the second and one in the third thanks to a home run in each frame to open up a 4-0 lead through three innings. After a scoreless fourth, Georgetown added two more runs in the sixth, going up 6-0.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Peyton Arnold got things going by reaching base thanks to a Hoya error. Kendall Gaddie came on to pinch run for Arnold and advanced to second on a throwing error in the next at-bat. With two away, Jadyn Thompson drew a walk to turn the order over and bring Bickett back to the plate. Bickett ripped a single to score Gaddie and advance Thompson to third, tallying Bellarmine's first hit and run of the game.
 
Georgetown tacked on one final insurance run in the sixth, extending its lead back to six at 7-1.
 
Megan Konermann singled through the right side in the bottom of the sixth but that would be the last effort for the Knights offense as they fell 7-1 in the 2025 season opener.
 
Game Two
 
In game two, Bellarmine flipped the script and got on the board first in the opening frame. Bicket once again led things off with a walk before stealing second. In the next at-bat, Jacklyn Zuege pulled a single through the right side of the infield to score Bickett, advancing to second on the throw home.
 
After a scoreless second, Charleston Southern answered with a run of its own after an error allowed the runner on.
 
The Buccaneers struck again each of the next two innings, scoring a run on an RBI single in the fourth and one more in the fifth thanks to a sacrifice fly, to take a 3-1 lead.
 
Bellarmine had multiple scoring chances in the fourth and fifth innings, loading the bases in each from, but nothing came of either threat.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Knights finally broke through. Bickett kicked things as she had done all day, drawing a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch and stealing third. Zuege followed suit with a walk of her own. In the following at-bat, Zuege got in a pickle attempting to steal second, allowing Bickett the opportunity to score from third, before getting thrown out at first. Chloe Collins replaced her at first though, hustling to first to force an error, getting to second due to the wild throw leaving the field. After a pop-up for the second out and facing a 1-2 strike, Konermann dug in and smoked the next pitch she saw to straight away center field for a two-run home run to put the Knights on top 4-3.
 
Back in the field for the bottom of the inning, Kelsie Houchens made quick work of the first two Buccaneer hitters before a two out single disrupted her 1-2-3 inning. In the next at-bat, Houchens forced a swing that resulted in a hard line drive at first base but the ball was handled cleanly as Konermann made the final play of the game to seal the Knights' win 4-3.
 
Houchens, pitching in her first game as a Knight, tossed a 7.0 inning complete games, allowing just the three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
 
Up next, Bellarmine continues its opening weekend of play at the CSU Kickoff Tournament Saturday, February 8 with another two contests against Georgetown and Siena.
 
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