Softball season is up and running on Bellarmines’ campus as of last Sunday when the Knights had their first home game. During the perfect weather we had over the weekend the Knights took on University Wisconsin-Parkside for their GLVC opener.

The Knights wasted no time on scoring with a double to left field in the first inning by Anna Mehr from Lousiville. Clean-up batter Kim Locke from Avon, Indiana then followed up with a single to right, scoring Mehr for what would be the Knights lone run of the game.

In the fourth UW-Parkside evened things up with a narrowly avoided tag at the plate to tally the Rangers’ first run.

The game was even until the top of the sixth when a misfortune for the Knights happened. Two outs, and a runner on first, Ranger catcher Allison Wodziak hit a grounder to short passing freshman Emily O’Bryan from Evansville, Indiana. Then UW-Parkside’s, Katrina Homa, launched a three-run homer over the left field wall bringing in the game-winning run.

In the second game was a lot closer, the scored was knotted at 0-0 until the eighth. Stephanie Polio from Louisville and Sharon Brill from Louisville led off the eighth with back-to-back singles. The Bellarmine centerfielder lined a shot up the middle, which grazed off Shimkus’ glove, driving in Polio for the victory.

Two losses against No. 23 Lewis University are bittersweet to some Knights.
Bellarmine junior Claire Horstman f rom Westerville, Ohio established a new strikeout mark in the second game as she fanned eight Lewis batters. Horstman now has 322 career strikeouts, surpassing Jamie Robinson on the Bellarmine list.

In the first game against Lewis, both teams failed to score a run until the top of the sixth. The Flyers added an insurance run in the seventh on Beth Shelus’ RBI single. Bellarmine never got a runner past first base in the game.


In the second outing, Lewis scored the only run of the game on a suicide squeeze play in the first inning.

Jorie Doll from Battle Ground, Indiana broke up Lewis starter Jenna Howard’s no-hitter in the fifth with a single down the right field line, but failed to advance past first.

The Knights had a chance finally when Anna Mehr from Louisville was hit by a pitch. Kim Locke from Avon, Indiana was the only BU player to get multiple hits on the day, followed up with a single to right. Mehr turned second hard and tried to move to third base but was gunned down by Lewis’ Lisa Gartland.