MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran baseball team played Martin Luther on Tuesday afternoon and posted 35 total runs in a pair of wins to open the UMAC slate. The Vikings, who move to 4-7 on the year, won the first game 13-3 before defeating the Knights 22-5 in game two. 

Bethany 13 - 3 Martin Luther
The Vikings opened the scoring in the first contest as Nolan Spence would drive in a pair of runs in the top of the first inning to get things rolling. 

Bethany would keep the scoring going in the second and third inning, as Josh Robb and Spence would each blast a home run before Andrew Imgarten notched an RBI single in the third inning to go up 5-0. 

MLC would get their first runs of the game in the bottom of the third, as they would use a pair of singles followed by a three run home run to bring the score to 5-3. 

From that point forward it was all Vikings, as they would get RBI hits from Imgarten and Seth Jones in the fifth and sixth, before a Lucas Reiff 2-RBI double in the seventh to make the score 9-3.

Aidan Russell and Connor Jones would then each hit home runs in the eighth, with Jones' homer bringing in two runs before a Knights error gave the Vikings a 13-3 lead that they would hold onto in the bottom half for the 10-run rule. 

Connor Jones and Imgarten each led Bethany at the plate with three hits, while Spence, Russell, and Seth Jones had two. 

Gavin Jacobsen got the start on the mound and allowed three runs in six innings, striking out 11, with Jackson Huiras working two innings of scoreless relief. 

Bethany 22 - 5 Martin Luther
The Knights would get to Bethany starter Drew Hedtke in the first inning of game two, scoring three unearned runs thanks to three hits and a Bethany error before the sophomore settled in.

After a scoreless first two frames from the Vikings, they would put up three runs in the third as Robb would knock a 2-RBI double and come around to score on a Liam Peterson single to make the score 3-3. 

Bethany would add two more runs in the fourth with Robb and Russell getting credit for RBI's before an unearned run in the fifth would put them up 6-3. MLC would answer with a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-4.

The Vikings would use three walks in the top of the sixth and a pair of hits including a Spence double to add on four more runs as they would hold a 10-4 lead. Hedtke would run into some trouble in the sixth, allowing three straight baserunners and a run to cross with two outs in the sixth before getting a popout to end his day on the mound. 

Bethany would put up four more runs on just two hits in the seventh with a Robb triple highlighting the inning, before they would explode for eight runs in the eighth. 

Eight different players would record hits in the inning with Will Carlson reaching base twice and scoring both time to help put them up 22-5 and claim the win. 

Russell and Malachi Santiago led the Vikings in game two with three hits, while Robb, Seth Jones, Peterson, Spence, and Carlson had two. 

Hedtke got the win on the mound, striking out six and allowing two earned runs in six innings of work while Trent Ash worked two scoreless innings to finish the game.