Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORTH MANKATO, Minn. - Bethany Lutheran College took on the University of Minnesota-Morris and Crown College in UMAC crossover matchups Tuesday at Caswell Park in North Mankato. Bethany lost to Minn.-Morris 6-4 in their first game and then fell to Crown 6-1.

The Cougars got off to a hot start in the first game, taking an early 2-0 lead after the first inning. After being down 3-0 going into the fourth inning, senior Rebecca Ludewig showed off her power as she hit a leadoff home run to left field to cut into the Morris lead. Bethany was again down 4-1 going into the sixth inning before rattling of three runs to tie the game at four thanks to another RBI from Ludewig, a wild pitch, and an RBI sac fly from junior Ammana Berthusen. The Cougars came back in the bottom half of the inning, however, scoring two more runs before sealing the deal in the top half of the seventh inning to win it 6-4. Bethany pitcher Nicole Starkson pitched six innings and struck out ten batters without giving up a single walk in the game.

Bethany took on Crown College in their second game and it was a hard fought battle. Crown jumped on top early, scoring three runs in the top of the third inning thanks to a homerun from freshman Jenna Willis. Crown also tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth inning off of two hits and an error. The Vikings did get a run in the bottom of the sixth inning before finally falling to Crown by the score of 6-1. Starkson had two hits and a walk. Freshman Allison Songstad pitched five innings for the Vikings while striking out four Crown batters.

Bethany (8-24, 7-10 in UMAC) next plays Saturday in their final home games of the season against Minn.-Morris. The doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.