| Box Score 2 (LOUSIVILLE, Ky., March 31)- The McKendree University softball team split its doubleheader at division-leading Bellarmine University on Monday, taking game one, 2-1, before dropping game two, 2-1, in nine innings.

The Bearcats are now 11-16 overall and 6-10 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and will host Missouri Baptist University on Tuesday, April 1 for a doubleheader at 3 and 5 p.m.

Both teams got all their scoring in the first inning of game one, with McKendree earning a 2-1 win.

Junior shortstop Kate Mayes (Collinsville, Ill./Collinsville) reached after being hit by a pitch and stole second in the next at-bat, before scoring on a double to right field by junior centerfielder Erica Johnson (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin). Following a lineout to the pitcher for the second out of the inning, junior first baseman Katie Nauman (Amboy, Ill./Amboy) singled to right center to bring around Johnson for the second and final run of the inning. The Knights scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the first on an error by the first baseman with two on.

Bellarmine loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but McKendree freshman pitcher Holly Magre (Festus, Mo./St. Pius X) struck out the final Knight batter to earn the 2-1 win. Magre improved to 2-3 overall and had four strikeouts in the victory, while Nauman was 2-for-3 from the plate with the game-winning RBI.

The Knights struck first with a solo home run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead, but the Bearcats countered with a solo home run by freshman third baseman Hanna Branch (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) to tie the game in the top of the seventh. The Knights put runners on second and third in the ninth inning and scored the winning run on a single to center field to end the game 2-1.

Sophomore pitcher Taylor Barnouski (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) fell to 2-3 overall, while senior leftfielder Caitlin Stredde (Pingree Grove, Ill./South Elgin) had two hits at the plate.