LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University baseball team leaned on a dominant pitching performance and timely hitting to secure a 3-2 victory over Southern Indiana on Wednesday afternoon at Knights Field.

In a game where offense was limited, the Knights made the most of their opportunities, collecting five hits and pushing across three runs in key moments.  

Bellarmine struck first in the opening inning as Landon Akers led off with a triple before AJ Swader brought him home with an RBI single to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead. Southern Indiana answered with two runs in the second inning, but the Knights quickly responded. 

In the third, Sawyer Pace worked a lead off walk and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Luke Scales to even the game at 2-2. Bellarmine took the lead for good in the fourth inning when Logan Murphy drove in Nick Gnardellis with an RBI groundout, making it 3-2.  

From there, it was all about the pitching staff. Bellarmine used a bullpen-by-committee approach that proved to be the difference, limiting Southern Indiana to just one earned run across nine innings.  

Austin Egan earned the win with a strong inning of relief, while Drew Jennings and Nikau Heeney combined for four scoreless innings to bridge the game into the late innings. Cade Rusch shut the door in the ninth, earning the save and sealing the one-run victory.  

The Knights' pitching staff scattered seven hits and worked out of multiple situations, keeping Southern Indiana off the scoreboard over the final seven innings.  

At the plate, Akers led the way with two hits, including a double and a triple, while Swader, Scales, and Murphy each recorded an RBI in the win.  

Up Next: Bellarmine hits the road for the first time in ASUN play, traveling to Conway, Arkansas, for a conference series against Central Arkansas. The first game of the series is Friday evening with first pitch at 7:00 p.m. ET.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X, Instagram and Facebook.