LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hosting what was supposed to be its first home games of the season, weather moved Bellarmine's softball games to Spalding's Legacy Fields where the Knights dropped games to Western Illinois and Northern Kentucky on Friday.
Bellarmine (1-11) opened the day with a 17-3, five inning loss to Western Illinois (5-7) before narrowly falling 8-7 to Northern Kentucky in the afternoon.
Junior
Kendall Gaddie provided all of the Knights' offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and triple to drive in all three of Bellarmine's runs. Freshman
Jayla Manning had a solid game at the dish, also going 2-for-3. The pair combined for four of BU's five hits.
The second game was much more competitive.
After getting out of a jam in the opening frame, senior
Jacklyn Zuege put the Knights on the board with a leadoff home run that hugged the first base line all the way to fence. The homer was Zuege's first of her career.
Northern Kentucky (5-5) answered in the next half inning, plating a run on an RBI double to even the score 1-1.
The Knights got right back on top in the bottom of the second as Zuege brought home another run on an RBI bunt single.
From there, the Norse put up two runs in the top of the third and three more in the top of the fifth for a 6-2 lead.
Bellarmine scratched a run across in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single off the bat of junior
Nicole Waters, cutting into the deficit, down 6-3.
Northern Kentucky put up another two runs in the sixth to extend its lead back up to five at 8-3.
The Knights wouldn't go down without a fight, however. In the home half of the sixth, the BU took advantage of an NKU fielding error that allowed sophomore
Lauren Guthrie to reach as the leadoff batter. In the next at-bat, senior
Madison Davis smoked a triple at the Spalding logo in right center field, scoring Guthrie. Davis came home on the next play as Bellarmine took advantage of a second Norse fielding error allowing Zuege to get on. Manning beat out an infield single to put runners on first and second before freshman
Tia Ice moved both into scoring position with the first out of the frame. After a quick second out, Waters struck again, scoring Zuege for the third Bellarmine run. In the following at-bat, Waters took second on a wild pitch, drawing an errant throw from the catcher in the process to allow Manning to race home for another run, bringing the Knights all the way back withing one, down 8-7.
Sophomore
Ally Richardson, in her second inning of work, kept Northern Kentucky off the scoreboard to give the Knights a chance at a win. BU got two runners on base, but were unable to complete the comeback, losing 8-7.
Zuege finished the game 3-for-5 with the home run, two RBI and two runs. Davis also turned in three hits, in just four at-bats, adding an RBI and run. Waters and junior
Brooke Shewmaker both tallied two hits each. In total the Knights recorded 13 hits in the game.
Up next, Bellarmine will conclude play in its home softball classic, taking on Western Illinois and Northern Kentucky again on Saturday, February 21 at Spalding's Legacy Fields.
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