SUPERIOR, Wis.- The Bethany Lutheran softball team (28-14 overall) defeated Minnesota Morris (13-22) Friday to advance to the UMAC Tournament Championship. The Vikings are the No. 3 seed and the Cougars are the No. 4.
 
With the win, BLC set the season record in wins (28).
 
The Vikings were the home team and got on the scoreboard in the first. Senior Zoe Kinakin (Victoria, British Columbia) plated junior Katelyn Halbach (Osage, Iowa) on her double to left centerfield. With that RBI, Kinakin became the career leader in that category with 106 to date, and surpassed the 105 set by Amanda Edmison from 2009-12.
 
The next batter, freshman Kaija Mork (Sioux Falls, SD), drove in Kinakin on her double to right center. Mork later scored on sophomore Ana Christofferson's (Mankato, Minn.) single to make it 3-0.
 
Kinakin's hot bat continued in the second as she slugged a two-run double to left center to extend the lead to 5-0. Halbach later scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0. Kinakin crossed the plate on Mork's single for the 7-0 lead.
 
The Cougars ended the no-hitter in the third on an infield single.
 
Sophomore Haley Stockman (Mankato, Minn.) scored on an error in the bottom of the third to make it 8-0. Halbach drove in freshman Olivia Fritz (Le Sueur, Minn.) and Halbach later scored on Kinakin's single for the 10-0 lead.
 
Minnesota Morris ended the shutout in the fourth on a sac fly and added an RBI single to make it 10-2.
 
In the bottom of the frame, Fritz singled through the left side to plate Christofferson to make it 11-2.
 
Halbach set the single game record for Bethany in the UMAC Tournament with her three runs, and Kinakin tied the mark with her two doubles and four RBIs. Halbach tied the record with her two stolen bases.
 
Bethany returns to the field tomorrow against the winner of UW-Superior/Minnesota Morris at 12 p.m. This will be the first appearance in the UMAC Tournament Championship since 2019.


TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 5
Game 1: 2 p.m. – No. 2 Northwestern vs. No. 3 Bethany Lutheran (BLC wins 2-1)
Game 2: 4:30 p.m. – No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior vs. No. 4 Minnesota Morris (UMM 2-0)

Friday, May 6 
Game 3: 10:30 a.m. – Northwestern vs. UW-Superior (UWS 3-1)
Game 4: 12:45 p.m. – Bethany Lutheran vs. Minnesota Morris (BLC 11-2)
Game 5: 3 p.m. – UW-Superior vs. Minnesota Morris  (UWS 9-1)

Saturday, May 7
Game 6: 12 p.m. – Bethany Lutheran vs. UW-Superior
Game 7: 2:30 p.m. – If Necessary, Same Teams as Game 6