MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran softball team hosted UW-Superior on Saturday afternoon for two contests and fell in an extra innings battle in game one before bouncing back with a 10-3 win in game two to claim a share of the UMAC Regular Season Championship.

With the win the Vikings conclude the regular season at 27-12 overall and 15-3 in the conference and will serve as the No. 1 seed and host next weekend during the UMAC Tournament. UW-Superior finishes the regular season 23-13 overall and 12-6 in the conference and will serve as the No. 3 seed. 



UW-Superior 9 - 8 Bethany (9 innings)

The Vikings would open the scoring in the bottom of the first inning of game one, as Haley Stockman would rip a two-out double into the left center field gap to put the first run of the day on the board.

It was the Yellowjackets who scored the next seven though, as they would use four hits, a free pass and an error to bring four across in the second, before using a pair of home runs in the third to bring three more across and make the score 7-1.

After the Bethany offense was held scoreless through the second and third inning, they would get a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to two UWS errors followed by RBI at-bats from Elizabeth Cizek and Sydney Jacobs.

With the score at 7-3, Bethany would continue to climb back into it in the fifth inning as Stockman and Ana Christofferson would reach base to open the inning. Jade Krenik would then single to score the first run and keep two runners on before a passed ball and a groundout would plate two more and make it 7-6 headed to the sixth inning.

Superior would plate another run in the top of the sixth inning for an insurance run before the Vikings would go down in order in the bottom of the sixth.

After a scoreless top of the seventh from the Yellowjackets at the plate it would set the stage for a dramatic bottom of the seventh from Bethany. It was Stockman who first reached as she knocked a base hit up the middle, before Christofferson stepped up and blasted a two-run game-tying home run to left center to even things at eight. Emily Nelson would then reach base via a single and eventually move around to third base but was stranded as the team's headed to extras.

Both teams would be held scoreless in the eighth before UWS would scratch a run across in the top of the ninth.

Bethany would get the opening runner of the inning on but she would be left stranded as the Yellowjackets worked out of the jam to claim game one.

Kayla Senne took the loss in the circle, tossing four innings and allowing one earned run while striking out three.

Stockman led the Vikings at the plate with three hits while Jacobs, Doyle, and Krenik each added two.

Bethany 10 – 3 UW-Superior

The Vikings would use the opening innings of game two to leave nothing to chance as they would explode for eight runs in the first two frames.

It was Kaija Mork who would first put Bethany on the board, as she would deliver a ground rule double with two runners in scoring position in the first inning to put the Vikings up 2-0.

They would then add another run early in the second as Nelson would get hit by a pitch and eventually come around to score on a wild pitch. A few batters later the bases would be loaded for Emily Doyle, where the sophomore would deliver by hitting a grand slam over the center field fence to make it 7-0. Stockman would then double, with Christofferson singling with two outs bring another across and put the Vikings up 8-0 after two.

UWS would find the scoring column in the top of the fourth inning as they would string together three hits, but Bethany would match their run in the bottom half as Christofferson recorded a sacrifice fly to make it 9-1.

The Yellowjackets would need a run in the top of the fifth to keep the game going, and they would as they got two with a two-out double to center field to bring the score to 9-3 headed to the bottom half of the inning.

BLC would get one back in the bottom of the fifth as Doyle would lace a two-out double to left center before Senne would hold the the Yellowjackets scoreless the final two innings as the Vikings would hold on for the 10-3 win.

Senne went the distance in game two, striking out five and allowing five hits in the win.

Bethany racked up 15 hits at the plate in the nightcap, with Stockman and Ana Christofferson each registering three to lead the charge.

The Vikings earned a share of the UMAC title with the win, splitting the honor with Minnesota Morris who will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament next weekend. The Yellowjackets will serve as the No. 3 seed while the Northwestern Eagles will be the No. 4 seed.

UWS and UMM will meet at 2 p.m.at Thomas Park next Thursday to kick off the UMAC Tournament before the Vikings and Yellowjackets meet up at 4:30 p.m.