Bethany Baseball Game of the Week

Article courtesy of Sara Eisenhauer
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. - With somewhat more favorable conditions in the forecast than last weekend, the start of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) baseball season – set to kick off Saturday – should fair a bit better than softball.
 
Though the format of the UMAC conference schedule looks a bit different – conference series are now two games at nine innings each – the excitement of opening weekend should be the same. Both playoff qualifiers a year ago, Bethany Lutheran College and Northland College are pitted against each other in what should be the most intriguing matchup of the weekend for a thrilling "UMAC Game of the Week."
 
The Lumberjacks of Northland finished the conference slate with an impressive 13-8 record to grab the No. 2 seed in the postseason tournament in 2015, while the Vikings finished 11-10 to slide into the UMAC playoffs as the No. 4 seed.  
 
The Vikings suffered an opening game loss to regular-season champion College of St. Scholastica, but defeated the University of Northwestern-St. Paul 13-6 in the second round to remain alive. The Lumberjacks – who took two of three regular season games from the Vikings – needed 10 innings to defeat Northwestern in the opener to earn a chance to face Bethany Lutheran again.  
 
The two squads matched up in game five on day two of the tournament in which the Vikings managed to upset the Lumberjacks 8-5 to advance to the final with St. Scholastica. The Vikings had four players record two or more hits in the win and got a complete game-effort from Brandyn Olsen who struck out eight batters en route to victory. St. Scholastica eventually went on to win the championship game 3-0 over the Vikings.
 
Though both teams lost all but two of their All-UMAC selections from a year ago – a total of seven first-team honorees – the 2016 season should find both teams in a good position heading into UMAC play. The Vikings welcome back five starters including honorable mention sophomore Nick Caldeen, while the Lumberjacks return four starters from a year ago which includes honorable mention senior Mitch Howard.
 
Just six points separate the two teams in the 2016 UMAC title in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. With newcomer University of Wisconsin-Superior in the mix, the Vikings were selected third with 45 points and the Lumberjacks were picked fifth with 39 points.  
 
The Match Up
The Vikings have been off to a tough start in March posting just a 2-10 mark overall. Despite their record, the Vikings scored a solid 11-4 non-conference win over Martin Luther College and blew out Simpson College 15-1 in early March on their spring break trip.
 
The Lumberjacks have fared a bit better this season posting a 6-11 record so far. Northland won four of its seven games over spring break and picked up wins over Blackburn and Wisconsin Lutheran Colleges last week scoring 20 runs between the two games.
 
Bethany Lutheran has found success so far this season thanks to power at the plate. The Vikings lead the UMAC with a .463 slugging percentage, rank second in batting average (.316) and have 37 extra base hits. Northland has had good offensive production with 130 hits and a UMAC best 109 runs, while also getting solid performances on the mound from a youthful pitching lineup.
 
Need to Know – Bethany Lutheran 
- Hitting .316 as a team, ranking second in the UMAC
- Seven starters are hitting at least .300 or better this season
- Drew Quame leads the conference with 19 RBI and four home runs on the season
- 30 percent of the hits this season have gone as extra base hits (25 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homeruns)
- Alek Zentzis has started five of the 12 games on the hill for the Vikings
- In the last matchup, the Vikings defeated the Lumberjacks 8-5 in the 2015 Postseason tournament semifinal game.  

Need to Know – Northland
- The Lumberjacks lead the UMAC in stolen bases this season with 37 – an average of 2.18 per game.
- Four players have recorded 10 or more RBI this season for the Lumberjacks.
- In their six victories this season, the Lumberjacks have outscored their opponents 75-33.
- The Lumberjacks have recorded 10 or more hits in a game three times this season.
- On the mound, the Lumberjacks have struck out 10 or more batters in a game three times.  

Who to Watch – Bethany Lutheran
Quame has been an offensive leader for the Vikings boasting a league-best 19 RBI, a .359 average that ranks 10th in the UMAC and a monster .692 slugging percentage – second-best in the UMAC. Caldeen hasn't missed a beat for the Vikings with a .341 average and an impressive .614 slugging percentage while leading the team with 15 hits. Trent Saharek also has 15 hits and leads the team in average (.395) – seventh-best in the UMAC – and ranks 10th for slugging (.526). Zentzis has been solid on the mound averaging the third-most strikeouts per game (9.43) in his 21 inning pitched.   
 
Who to Watch – Northland
Alex Elliott has led the Lumberjacks at the plate with a .302 average that is best among the team's starters. The sophomore leads the UMAC in at bats with 63, his 15 RBI rank second in the conference and 18 hits are fourth-best.  Howard, John Aguirre and Edouard Bosseloo each boast 10 or more RBI this season to rank in the top 10. On the mound, first-year Carson Ferry has been a force with two wins in his 20.2 innings pitched. He has allowed just 15 hits this season and leads the UMAC in strikeouts per game (14.81) and overall strikeouts (34).
 
The Basics
The two-game series between Bethany Lutheran and Northland is set for this Saturday, April 9 with the opening game slated for 1 p.m. Game two will follow after conclusion of the opening game at approximately 3:30 p.m. Both contests will take place on the Bethany Lutheran campus in Mankato, Minnesota.
 
The "Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week" is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the "UMAC Game of the Week".