LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It took nearly three hours but, Bellarmine softball secured the series win in its first Atlantic Sun Conference weekend with an 11-7 victory over Lipscomb on Sunday afternoon at Knights Field.

Bellarmine (9-17, 2-1 ASUN) collected its first ASUN series win since the 2024 season and just its second since joining the league in 2021. In that 2024 campaign, the Knights opened conference play defeating Jacksonville twice in three games for the first ASUN series win in program history.

The game was an offensive onslaught as both teams combined for 28 hits and 18 runs.

Lipscomb (7-19, 1-2 ASUN) came out swinging with two runs in the opening frame.

The Knights answered immediately in the bottom of the first. After reaching on a leadoff single, senior Jacklyn Zuege worked her way around bases and eventually scored on a Lipscomb wild pitch. After the first out of the inning, freshman Tia Ice delivered a perfect bunt on a squeeze play, bringing home a second run while reaching first safely in the process. Following the bunt, the Knights turned in three straight singles, with senior Madison Davis delivering the third and crucial blow as she shot a hard grounder down the first base line to score two more runs and put BU ahead 4-2. The Knights added on one more run in the inning when Davis stole second and forced an errant throw by the Lipscomb catcher that allowed sophomore Lauren Guthrie to cross the plate for a 5-2 lead.

After a quiet second, Lipscomb slowly chipped away before eventually retaking the lead in the fifth. The Bisons scored one run in each of the third and fourth innings before striking for two in the fifth to jump ahead 6-5.

Despite the hot start to the game, Bellarmine went hitless in the second, third and fourth innings. The bats finally woke back up the fifth when BU struck for four more runs. With the first three Knights all reaching base, Guthrie stepped to the plate and delivered a single to right field to bring home a run. In the next at-bat, Davis stepped up and put down another perfect bunt for a second squeeze play run while also racing to first safely. The hits kept coming as freshman Lily Jones got in on the action with an RBI single up the middle. Bellarmine notched a final run in the inning when freshman Jayla
Manning drew a bases loaded walk to put BU ahead 9-6.

With all the offense the Knights turned in, the highlight came in the sixth inning when junior Nicole Waters put the icing on the cake with a two-run shot down the left field line to extend the lead to 11-6. The homer was her first of the season.

Lipscomb attempted a rally in the seventh, scratching a single run across, but sophomore Makenzie Cowburn shut the threat down for the second time this weekend to secure the 11-7 win.

Ice led the Knights with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, collecting an RBI with two runs. Waters and Davis joined the multi-hit crew with two knocks apiece as Waters added two RBI and three runs with Davis contributing three RBI. Eight of Bellarmine's nine starters recorded a hit in the game with senior Addison Kerr adding to the team's 13 as a pinch hitter in the sixth.

Up next, Bellarmine will take on its first ASUN road challenge, traveling to Richmond, KY for a three-game series at Eastern Kentucky March 21-22.

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