LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Costly defensive miscues hurt the Bellarmine University baseball team in a 10-5 loss to Central Arkansas in an Atlantic Sun Conference series opener Friday at Knights Field.

Six of the 10 runs for Central Arkansas (13-19, 7-6 ASUN) were unearned, including four in a five-run ninth inning that skewed what was a tight contest against Bellarmine (8-25, 4-9). A one-out error by the Knights set off the Bears in the fateful ninth, and another in the inning helped UCA pad its lead.

Bellarmine scored four of its five runs in the fifth, all with two outs. Junior Brady Morse kept the inning alive with a pinch-hit single, which was the first of five straight hits for the Knights.

Senior Casey Sorg, junior Eli Watson and junior Luke Scales all followed Morse with singles. Watson and Scales both drove in runs, with Scales knotting the game at 3. Junior Charlie Rife then put the Knights ahead after drilling a two-run triple off the wall.

A Bellarmine error in the sixth ultimately led to two unearned runs for Central Arkansas, which evened the contest at 5. The Bears broke the deadlock in their big last inning while riding reliever Aden Velasquez, who earned the win after hurling 4.1 scoreless innings.

Sophomore right-hander Chase Carver had a solid start for Bellarmine, allowing three runs in 5.0 innings. Senior right-hander Blake Donnan did not allow an earned run in his 3.0 innings of relief.

Game 2 of the series is slated for 3 p.m. (ET) Saturday at Knights Field.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).