LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellarmine baseball closed out the 2026 season on Senior Day Sunday afternoon, falling 9-4 to Eastern Kentucky at Knights Field. The Knights finish the year with a 19-34 overall record and an 11-19 mark in ASUN Conference play.
Prior to first pitch, Bellarmine honored its 2026 senior class featuring Bryce Anderson, Carson Brower, Nick Gnardellis, Zac Jones, Logan Murphy, Deaton Oak, Connor Pawlowski, Owen Payne, Sawyer Pace, Presley Monteforte, Aaron Ragat, Charlie Rife, Cade Rusch, Luke Scales, AJ Swader, Eli Watson and Oliver Ward for their contributions to the program.
Eastern Kentucky jumped in front with a run in the second before using a four-run fourth inning, highlighted by a grand slam from Pedro Moreno, to build a 5-0 advantage. The Colonels added two more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to extend the lead to 9-0.
The Knights answered in the bottom of the sixth inning when Bryce Anderson delivered a sacrifice fly to score AJ Swader before Nick Gnardellis followed with an RBI single for his first hit of the afternoon.
Bellarmine added two more runs in the seventh after Charlie Rife doubled to begin the inning, and Eli Watson lined up a two-run single up the middle to score both Rife and Swader, cutting the deficit to 9-4.
Luke Scales led the Knights offensively, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while Watson collected two hits and two RBI. Gnardellis added a hit and RBI off the bench, and Connor Pawlowski recorded a hit in his final game at Knights Field.
Cade Rusch tossed three scoreless innings in relief with two strikeouts to close out the afternoon for the Knights.
Landon Akers finished the season with 80 hits, tying his own Bellarmine Division-I era single-season record set last year, while Luke Scales concluded his career ranked second in Bellarmine's Division-I era in both career hits and RBI.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow @BUKnights on X, Instagram and Facebook.
