Softball finishes day with loss to LU-Belleville

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The 22^nd-ranked Bellevue University softball team capped off their Opening Day triple-header with a 6-2 loss to Lindenwood-Belleville. The Bruins fall to 0-3 while Lindenwood-Belleville improves to 2-1 on the year.

The Lynx drew first blood, scoring a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning. Diamond Owens reached on an error to open the game and took second on a passed ball before Nicolle Miskowicz's single put runners on the corners with no outs. Emily Ray scored the first run with a sac fly and Amanda Velasquez doubled the LU-B advantage with a single to center.

Lindenwood-Belleville tagged the Bruins for a couple more unearned runs and three total runs in the fourth via a double steal, a fielding error, and a sac fly. The additional scoring extended their lead to 5-0 headed for the fifth.

The Bruins struck for a pair of runs in the sixth to cut the deficit to 5-2. Alex Tooley notched a two-out single before coming home on a triple to right by Michaela Miller. Emily Miller followed that up with a single to left to chase home Michaela Miller and pull BU within three.

Jordyn Klingbell chased home an insurance run in the sixth for the Lynx, scoring Paige Kuefler from third.

Erin Sharpe (0-1), despite being charged the loss, was effective in her collegiate pitching debut. In six innings in the circle, she yielded just one earned run (six total) on eight hits while striking out two without allowing a walk.

Angelina Vargas claimed the victory in the circle for the Lynx, working 5.1 innings and allowing a pair of runs on five hits and two walks to go along with a pair of strikeouts.

Bellevue plays a pair of games tomorrow. The Bruins take on host Evangel at 10 a.m. and get a rematch with Oklahoma City at noon.