LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Interstat) — David Alvarez drove in five runs and Pedro Moreno scored five times as Eastern Kentucky outslugged Bellarmine 16-11 in an ASUN Conference baseball game Thursday afternoon at Knights Field.

The Colonels improved to 15-37, while the Knights fell to 19-32. Eastern Kentucky collected 19 hits and Bellarmine had 14. The game featured 27 runs, 33 hits and five home runs.

Alvarez, the Colonels’ left fielder, finished with four hits, including two doubles, and scored twice. Moreno, the shortstop, homered, singled three times and scored five runs. Bellarmine shortstop Landon Akers homered and drove in four runs. Knights second baseman Bryce Anderson homered and had three RBIs. Luca Hoerger, playing left and center field for Bellarmine, doubled twice and drove in two runs.

The most critical sequence came in the top of the eighth inning with Eastern Kentucky leading 10-7. The Colonels sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs to push the lead to 16-7. Khaleel Pratt walked and Ricco Longo singled. Jackson Cauthron tripled down the right-field line, scoring Pratt and Longo. Boone Shevey singled in Cauthron. After a pitching change, Pedro Moreno singled in Shevey. Later in the inning, a wild pitch brought home Moreno and Alvarez singled home Gunnar Bingham, who had entered as a pinch hitter. The five-run outburst gave the Colonels a nine-run cushion.

Bellarmine mounted a dramatic rally in the bottom of the ninth. Trailing 16-7, the Knights loaded the bases with no outs. Luke Scales singled, Charlie Rife struck out, then Nick Gnardellis was hit by a pitch. Luca Hoerger singled to load the bases. Bryce Anderson walked to force in a run, making it 16-8. After a pitching change, Landon Akers reached on a two-run error by the first baseman, cutting the deficit to 16-10. Zac Jones then grounded out, scoring Anderson to make it 16-11. Landon Akers stole third, but AJ Swader flied out to center to end the game.

Eastern Kentucky took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Alvarez singled home Moreno. The Colonels added an unearned run in the third on Alvarez’s second RBI single. Alvarez doubled home Moreno in the fifth, and Pratt tripled in Alvarez. An error allowed another run to score, making it 5-0. Bellarmine answered in the bottom of the fifth on Akers’ two-run homer to left center.

The Colonels broke the game open in the sixth. After a walk and a bunt single, Alvarez doubled to score Kobe Benson. Longo then singled to drive in two more runs, stretching the lead to 8-2. Bellarmine responded in the bottom half when Anderson crushed a three-run homer to left, scoring Hoerger and Cole Huett and pulling within 8-5.

Eastern Kentucky got those runs back in the seventh on Moreno’s two-run homer, making it 10-5. The Knights scored twice in the bottom of the seventh on Hoerger’s double to right center, trimming the margin to 10-7. That set the stage for the decisive top of the eighth.

Eastern Kentucky starter Hayden Collins allowed two runs on four hits over five innings, striking out two and walking one. Clay Cartledge earned the win in relief, working one scoreless inning. Bellarmine starter Chase Carver surrendered five runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out four and walking none.

The game was the first of a three-game series. The teams met three times earlier this season in Richmond, Kentucky, with Bellarmine sweeping that series by scores of 11-9, 14-10 and 10-5. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Eastern Kentucky 5, Bellarmine 2, while Interstat’s ELO system gave Bellarmine a 50.30 percent probability to win.