MANKATO, Minn.-- The Bethany Lutheran baseball team (19-13) opens the UMAC Tournament Thursday at 4 p.m. against Crown. The Vikings are the No. 3 seed and the Polars are the No. 2 seed. The University of Northwestern will serve as host.

Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 12
Game 1: 4 p.m. – No. 2 Crown vs. No. 3 Bethany Lutheran
Game 2: 7 p.m. – No. 1 Northwestern vs. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior

Friday, May 13 
Game 3: 1 p.m. – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Game 4: 4 p.m. – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 5: 7 p.m. – Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4

Saturday, May 14
Game 6: 1 p.m. – Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 7: 4 p.m. – If Necessary, Same Teams as Game 6

Tickets

• Single Day Adults: $10
• Single Day Student and Seniors: $5
• Tournament Pass Adults: $15
• Tournament Pass Students and Seniors: $7
• Age 5 and under: Free
• Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.

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The Series
BLC owns the series lead at 42-3, which includes the last two-straight.

Bethany Lutheran
BLC is 18-16 all-time in the conference tournament.

Junior Liam Peterson (Port Orchard, Wash.) leads the team with his .365 batting average. Classmate Matt Verdugo (Arvada, Colo.) has a team-best 29 RBIs.

Verdugo, senior Brent Fowler (Berthoud, Colo.), freshman Aidan Russell (Gilbert, Ariz.), and junior Ben Hopper (North Mankato, Minn.) join him above .300 at .349, .314, .313, and .301, respectively.

Senior Adam Fjerstad (Hayfield, Minn.) leads the starting pitching staff with his 2.94 ERA and 51 Ks.

Career Record Watch
Senior Ross Beumer (Northfield, Minn.) is second in runs (141), triples (14) and RBIs (116), third in doubles (38) and hits (173), tied for fourth in home runs (12), fifth in games started (134), and sixth in games played (138).

Senior Jake LaBerge (Round Rock, Texas) is fourth in home runs (12) and doubles (36). Peterson is sixth in stolen bases (30).

Fjerstad is first in appearances (47), tied for first in saves (6), second in strikeouts (166), tied for third in games started (27), and tied for sixth in wins (12).

Season Record Watch
Fjerstad is tied for third in saves (3).  Freshman Carter Benz (Wabasso, Minn.) and senior Nick Shubert (Mapleton, Minn.) are tied for 10th in saves (1).

Beumer is tied for fourth in triples (5). Russell is first in putouts (263). Peterson is second in stolen bases (22) and Hopper is tied for eighth in stolen bases (14).

BLC has set a new season record in stolen bases (94).