MANKATO, Minn.— The Bethany Lutheran baseball team (2-9 overall) split the twinbill with Central (6-12) Saturday. The Dutch won the opener 14-3, and the Vikings claimed the finale 10-7.

In the first game, Central used a five-run second inning to jump to the early lead.

BLC got on the board in the sixth as freshman Reed Brown (St. Michael) drove in classmate Ben Hopper (North Mankato, Minn.) from first on his double to right field. Brown later scored from first on an error by the pitcher, which made it 5-2.

The Dutch plated one in their seventh, and junior Kaylan Legred (Blue Earth, Minn.) answered with a solo home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the frame.
Central tallied six in the eighth and two in the ninth for its final runs.

Brown and sophomore Conner Side (Denver, Colo.) each went 2-4 at the plate.

In the finale, the Dutch took the early lead once more on three runs in their first at-bats. Brown sliced the lead to one on his two-run double to left in the bottom of the innings.

Central tallied one in the second and junior Carter Wendlandt (Minneapolis) drove in Legred from first on his double to center, which made it 4-3. Each team added two in the fourth. The Vikings used a three-run fifth inning to claim its first lead of the day at 8-6.

Bethany scored its final two runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Hopper and an RBI double from sophomore Brent Fowler (Berthoud, Colo.).

The Dutch recorded their final run of the game in the seventh on an RBI triple.

Legred, Wendlandt, and sophomore Liam Peterson (Port Orchard, Wash.) all went 2-3. Brown was 2-4 and Fowler was 2-5. Sophomore Daniel Salinas (St. Paul) pitched a career-high 5.2 innings and had a career-best six strikeouts.

The Vikings return to the field Wednesday when they host Crown at 1:30 p.m. to open conference play.