Bellarmine baseball defeated Dayton 8-6 at Woerner Field on Apr. 21, ending a four-game losing streak and closing out an eight-game road stretch. The win is Bellarmine’s 17th of the season, matching last year’s total and tying for the most victories in the program’s Division I era.
The game saw Bellarmine trailing early, with only two runs scored through six innings while Dayton built a 5-2 lead by capitalizing on a three-run fourth inning. The Knights began to narrow the gap in the seventh before making their decisive move in the eighth inning.
In that crucial frame, Bellarmine loaded the bases and scored four runs, turning a three-run deficit into a one-run lead. Eli Watson drove in two runs during this rally, and AJ Swader contributed with an extra-base hit. Swader’s triple marked his 50th run batted in (RBI) of the season, making him just the second player to reach that milestone during Bellarmine’s Division I era.
Pitching played a key role as well. Connor Sims pitched his longest outing of the year with four innings and four strikeouts. Drew Jennings provided two scoreless innings from the bullpen before Karl Ralamb delivered a clean seventh inning to earn the win. Cade Rusch closed out the final two innings for his third save of the season.
Landon Akers led Bellarmine offensively with three hits while Luke Scales added multiple hits as part of Bellarmine’s ten-hit performance overall.
Bellarmine will return home this weekend to host Central Arkansas for an ASUN Conference series at Knights Field.
