Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MANKATO, Minn. The Bethany Lutheran College softball team completed the series sweep of Martin Luther College Tuesday night, defeating the Knights in a pair of UMAC battles. The Vikings, now 15-9 overall and 6-0 in the UMAC, defeated the Knights 9-1 in game one and 11-3 in game two.  

Bethany Lutheran 9 - 1 Martin Luther (5 innings)
The Vikings kicked off game one in style, as Emily Doyle and Ana Christofferson both sent home runs over the left field fence in the first inning to push the Vikings out to an early 4-0 lead. 

MLC would answer in the top of the second though, as they would put together a pair a free passes followed by a pair of hits to open the frame. On the second Knight hit though, Sydney Jacobs made a running play to pick a short hop off the ground in center field and was able quickly get it into the infield for a double play as the Martin Luther runners were caught in limbo with whether they were going to have to tag up or not. A good play by Doyle at third base a few plays later would get the Vikings out of the inning up 4-1. 

The scoring would halt until the bottom of the third inning, when Kaija Mork would step up to open the inning and blast a no-doubt shot to the opposite field as the Vikings would go up 5-1 after three innings of play. 

They would strike again in the bottom of the fourth, as Katelyn Halbach would walk to get things going. Jacobs would then step up, and with the outfield playing a few steps in due to her ability to effectively slap for hits, she would take a little bigger swing and blast one over the center fielders head into left center gap for a triple. She would then come around to score on a Doyle hit to make things 7-1. 

After a scoreless top of the fifth from Mork on the mound, the Vikings would walk things off in the bottom half due to the eight run rule. Aliya Kehler and Elizabeth Cizek would each single to reach base safely before a pinch hit single from Emily Nelson brought both home and make the score 9-1 which sealed the win.

Kehler led Bethany with three hits in the win, while Jacobs and Doyle had two apiece with Doyle also driving in four runs. 

Mork got the win on the mound, striking out three in four innings of work while allowing just the one run. 

Bethany Lutheran 11 - 3 Martin Luther (6 innings)

The Knights opened game two with a double down the third base line. A ground out followed by two strikeouts brought the Vikings to the plate.  They got the bats going with a double to center field from Halbach, before an error by the second baseman pushed Halbach home and advanced Jacobs to first. After a stolen base and a sacrifice fly from Doyle sent Jacobs around the diamond, a caught line drive from Mork left the Vikings with two outs in the books. Haley Stockman kept the action going, reaching first on a fielding error and reaching second with a stolen base. She rounded third and headed home with base hit from Christofferson who pushed her single into an extra base. Jade Krenik sent a single through to center field, adding an RBI as Christofferson scored. A line drive from Nelson snagged by the second baseman ended the first. 

Viking defense proved to be a challenge for the Knights during the second. A strike out, fly-out, and ground out sent the Vikings back to the plate. Although a double from Halbach followed by an advancement on a throw put the Vikings in scoring position, a fly-out to right field ended the inning.

The Knights stepped up to the plate, pushing Yonkovich and Heckendorf around the bases, but were quickly answered by Viking offense. A walk for Mork was extended with a stolen base before a single from Stockman put two Vikings in scoring position. Mork took advantage of a passed ball and crossed the plate adding to Stockman scoring from a fielding error. A caught foul ball from Christofferson left Krenik up, making it safely on base from with a walk. With eyes set on making it home, Krenik advanced by stealing second. Although Krenik was able to advance to third on a fly-out by Doyle, the Vikings were unable to bring her back home.

Viking pitcher, Emily Meyer split the work with her defense in top of the fourth. A ground-out, strike-out, and caught line drive readied the Viking offense. A run from two hits in the bottom half extended the Viking lead to 7-2.

Neither team could get their offense rolling in the fifth, with the Vikings making putting the ball in play but unable to capitalize on the action. 

An error and a single put the Knights in position to score in the top of the sixth. A RBI from Siehr gave the Knights a run, but the Viking defense stopped the momentum. Ready to put the sweep away, the Vikings opened the bottom of the inning with a single from Nelson who kept rolling with a stolen base. Although a batter's interference left the Vikings with one out, it was quickly made up for with a walk for Halbach. A single and a pair of doubles sent the Viking line-up around the bases, pushing the run count to 11-3 and sealing the game via the eight-run rule. 

Halbach, Jacobs, and Mork all posted a pair of hits to lead the Bethany offense in game two with Jacobs coming around to score three times. 

Meyer picked up the win on the mound, allowing no earned runs in six innings of work while striking out seven. 

Upcoming Contest
The Vikings will be back in action tonight as they host the North Central University (MN) Rams for a single-game match-up at 6:00 pm.