LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Dolphins (8-13) began conference play with an exclamation point as they defeated Bellarmine (8-20) in back-to-back games this afternoon.
In the first game of the twin bill, the Knights held a 2-0 lead after five innings until the red-hot Kari Holzrichter tied the game with a two-run homer. It would be followed up with another homerun off the bat of Logan Keith in the top of the seventh to give the Dolphins their first lead of the day, 3-2.
However, it would take extra innings to finalize the first matchup as JU would give up a game-tying pinch-hit homerun in the bottom of the seventh to send the teams to the eighth. It wouldn't be much extra play, as Kailey Harrigan drove in Chloe Lee right away to put the Dolphins back on top, where they would stay. Skylar Whitty pitched her second-straight complete game en route to a 4-3 victory.
Game two is where the floodgates opened, especially later in the game. With no scoring through the first three and Bellarmine leading 1-0, it was the fourth inning where the Dolphins hit what would be their first homerun of three in the game. Rodebaugh would tie the game at one until the bottom half, as Bellarmine put themselves back on top 2-1.
Those two runs would be all the Knights could score as Ashlee Harwood would come in to replace Shelby Harpe in the following inning and shut them down the rest of the way. JU would score four runs on two singles and a hit-by-pitch in the sixth, taking a commanding 7-2 lead into the final inning of play.
To provide the final blows came Madison Kennedy and Joely Leguizamon, who would hit back-to-back homeruns and combine for another four runs and cap off the day with an 11-2 victory over their first-time ASUN rivals.
The Dolphins are back in action against Bellarmine for game three of the opening series, tomorrow, March 20th, at 1PM.
Be sure to follow along via Twitter (@jax_softball) and behind the scenes on Instagram (@jax_sftbl) to stay up to date and view exciting content of the softball team all season long.
