CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — The Bellarmine University baseball team made things interesting with a late flurry before falling 10-6 to Austin Peay in an Atlantic Sun Conference series opener Friday night at Raymond C. Hand Park.

Austin Peay (35-11, 19-3 ASUN) scored five runs in the first and four in the fifth in building a 10-1 lead against Bellarmine (11-34, 7-15). However, there was some suspense late as the Knights plated five runs in the eighth and had the tying run on deck in the ninth before the Governors sealed the win.

Junior Eli Watson went 3-for-4 with two RBI for Bellarmine. He unloaded a solo homer in the second inning, with his third long ball of the season accounting for the Knights' only run through seven innings.

Bellarmine had four straight two-out singles in the eighth. The latter two, by Watson and junior Luke Scales, drove in a run each. APSU then had two consecutive errors that allowed three more BU runs to cross.

Defensive issues plagued Bellarmine as well. Austin Peay came out swinging as its first three batters recorded a double, triple and single, but the Knights also had two errors in the Governors' five-run first and had two more in APSU's four-run fifth.

The second game of the series is set for 3 p.m. ET (2 CT) Saturday.

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