Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Rosemount, Minn. - The Irish Sports Dome in Rosemount has become a home away home for the Bethany softball squad. Due to the lingering winter weather, the Vikings played their ninth and tenth games there on Friday. The familiarity with the facility is paying dividends as they took three of four last weekend and won two more today as Bethany swept North Central in UMAC action.

The Vikings have been excelling in all aspects of their game in winning nine of their last ten contests and it was more of the same against Rams in two five-inning wins, 8-0 and 10-2.

Nicole Starkson, the reigning UMAC Pitcher of the Week, stayed strong again as she threw a 3-hit shutout in game one striking out 11.

After getting a run in the second, the Vikings erupted for seven in the third and it started and ended with Ashley Jensen. She led off the inning with a homer to center and drove in the final three runs in the frame with a triple. In between, Angela Timm, Andrea Donley, and Aimie Wiechmann had RBI base hits.

Gena Chester went 3-for-4 while Jensen, Kelsey Pekarna, and Donley had two hits a piece.

Game two was much of the same as Bethany used another seven run inning to break open the game. Two home runs were smashed in the big second inning. Chester hit a 3-run shot to left and Rebecca Ludewig also hit a 2-run blast.

Jensen hit her second home run of the day in the fourth, this one a 2-run dinger. Jensen, along with Amanna Berthusen, Shannon Heitz, and Adria Dahlke had two hits in the game.

Heitz pitched a solid five innings to get the win giving up two unearned runs on six hits.

Bethany (15-11, 8-1 in UMAC) heads back to the Irish Sports Dome on Saturday for a doubleheader with Northwestern starting at 12:30 p.m.