MANKATO, Minn. – In the second game of the doubleheader Saturday, senior Logan Nissen (Olivia, Minn.) become Bethany Lutheran's career leader in saves. The record of five was set by Justin Schwecke from 2007-10.
BLC split the twinbill as St. Scholastica won the opener 15-9, but the Vikings won the finale 9-5.
In the first game, the Saints took the early 2-0 lead in the first. Junior Kaylan Legred (Blue Earth, Minn.) evened it with his two-run homer over the left field fence in the bottom of the frame. Later in the inning, senior Jake LaBerge (Round Rock, Texas) launched a three-run home run over the centerfield fence to make it 5-2.
St. Scholastica sliced the lead to one in the fourth as it plated two runs, and used a six-run fifth inning, thanks in part to a grand slam, to reclaim the lead at 10-5.
In the sixth, LaBerge hit his second roundtripper and the Vikings added three more to make the score 10-9.
The Saints batted around in the seventh and tallied five runs to push the lead to 15-9. A BLC baserunner did not advance past second in the final two innings to give the visitors the win.
Freshman Liam Peterson (Port Orchard, Wash.) and sophomore Hunter Pearce (Berthoud, Colo.) went 3-5.
In the finale, it was a similar story as St. Scholastica jumped to a 4-0 lead after its first at-bats. BLC had a five-run second inning which included two-run doubles by sophomore Alec Gratz (Mankato, Minn.) and junior Ross Beumer (Northfield, Minn.).
CSS evened it once more with a run in the third.
In the bottom of the fourth, Beumer drove in Pearce on his single to left for the go-ahead run. Back-to-back solo shots by junior Carter Wendlandt (Minneapolis) and LaBerge made it 8-5. Beumer scored on a wild pitch in the sixth for the final run of the day.
Beumer had a career-high four hits and Pearce was 2-3.
Sophomore Daniel Salinas (St. Paul) earned his third win of the season and Nissen had the save.
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BLC returns to the field Wednesday when it travels to face Northwestern at 1:30 p.m.
