Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TUCSON, Ariz. - The Bethany baseball team kicked off their 2015 campaign in the heat and sun of the Arizona desert Sunday taking on Simpson College at the Tucson Invitational Games. The Vikings earned a split in the twinbill that included an extra innings win in Game 1.

In the opener, both starting pitchers, Bethany's Ronald Donley and Simpson's Zeb Noel, went at least seven innings with both pitchers yielding only seven combined hits. With neither team crossing the plate, Noel was pulled going into the eighth inning after striking out eight Vikings' batters and three hits. Daulton Gibson came in for Simpson and walked the first two batters he faced, Clay Anderson and Joe Tuholsky. Gibson was replaced by Brock Borgeson. Danny Kneeland hit a grounder that was booted by the Simpson shortstop allowing Anderson to score the go-ahead run.

Donley came back out for the eighth. After Austin Burlin led off with a single, Donley got the next batter to ground out and the final batter to line into a double play to end the 1-0 win for Bethany.

Donley finished with five strikeouts on four hits.

In Game 2, Simpson took a 2-0 lead before Adam Geiger's double drove in Lucas Herd in the bottom of the fourth.

Bethany trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the seventh. Brandyn Olsen and Nick Caldeen each delivered one-out singles. Nolan Grose then hit a pinch-hit double to score Olsen and advance Caldeen to third. With the tying run 90 feet away and the winning run at second, Simpson's Borgeson struck out the final two batters to save the 3-2 win.

Bethany is slated for another doubleheader Monday against Buena Vista.