RICHMOND, Ky. — Despite exceptional pitching across the board on the first day of Atlantic Sun Conference play, the Bellarmine University baseball experienced a bittersweet Friday in doubleheader action, as the Knights dominated in a 10-0 victory over Eastern Kentucky before the offense sputtered in a 2-1 loss to the Colonels at Earle Combs Stadium.

GAME 1: Bellarmine 10, Eastern Kentucky 0
Bellarmine (4-14, 1-1 ASUN) made some history in the series opener against EKU (1-17, 1-1) as the Knights recorded their first-ever shutout in the Division-I era. It came in Ben Reel's first ASUN game as the head coach.

Sophomore right-hander Chase Carver earned his first collegiate win after striking out seven while allowing six hits in a career-high 6.0 innings. Junior right-hander Oliver Ward then kept the Colonels off the board in 2.0 innings of work, and senior right-hander Logan Haslam secured the milestone shutout with a scoreless ninth.

Bellarmine did the majority of its damage offensively early, as the Knights built an 8-0 lead after four innings. The long ball was a major factor, as junior Joey Milto launched a two-run homer in the first, junior Charlie Rife smacked a solo shot in the second and junior Luke Scales blasted a solo shot in the fifth.

Milto's round-tripper came in a three-run first, and he added an RBI single in the second as Bellarmine led 5-0. The Knights then plated three more runs in the fourth on an RBI double by freshman Landon Akers and RBI singles from senior Casey Sorg and junior Eli Watson to bump the advantage to 8-0.

Watson went 4-for-5 while Akers, Milto, Scales and freshman Christian Kiper had two hits apiece. Kiper's were both doubles.

GAME 2: Eastern Kentucky 2, Bellarmine 1
Eastern Kentucky managed to shake off the outcome of the opener and largely silenced Bellarmine's bats in picking up its first win of the season.

Akers was the exception for Bellarmine, registering four of the team's six hits. The Knights' lone run came in the third when Watson walked with the bases loaded.

However, Bellarmine's offensive struggles in Game 2 were underscored by that third inning. The Knights loaded the bases with no outs but only mustered the one run. EKU didn't allow another after that while scoring one run each in the fifth and seventh innings.

Following suit from the opener, Bellarmine's pitching was superb. Sophomore right-hander Zach Horwith fired 3.0 scoreless innings while senior right-handers Mike Sokol and Cooper Hellman combined for 5.0 more strong frames.

The teams will take Saturday off before squaring off at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday in the series finale.

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