LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellarmine baseball fell 8-7 in extra innings to Murray State on Tuesday at Knights Field in the team's first extra-inning game of the season.
The loss moves the Knights to 0-6 all-time against Murray State, as Bellarmine came up just short of securing its first win in the series.
Murray State struck first with runs in the opening two innings, but Bellarmine answered in the third when Landon Akers launched a solo home run to get the Knights on the board.
Bellarmine evened the game in the fifth, as Akers delivered an RBI single before AJ Swader added a sacrifice fly to tie the contest at 3-3.
After the Racers regained the lead in the sixth, the Knights responded with their biggest inning of the day in the seventh. Akers came through again with a two-run double, followed by Cole Huett's RBI triple and Jake Bell's RBI single to give Bellarmine a 7-5 advantage.
Murray State answered with two runs in the eighth to tie the game at 7-7 and force extras.
In the 10th, the Racers scored the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice following an error, plating an unearned run to take an 8-7 lead. Bellarmine was unable to answer in the bottom half.
The Knights totaled 14 hits in the contest, led by Akers, who went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and a home run — his fifth of the season, with all five coming since March 27. Sawyer Pace and Connor Pawlowski each added two hits.
On the mound, Bellarmine used multiple arms throughout the contest, with Cade Rusch taking the loss after 2.2 innings of work in relief.
Bellarmine begins an eight-game road swing this weekend, traveling to Eastern Kentucky for an ASUN series in Richmond set for Friday through Sunday.
For more coverage of Bellarmine Athletics, follow @BUKnights on X, Instagram and Facebook.
