MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran softball team trailed by two runs in the fifth inning on Thursday and overcame the deficit to force extra innings before eventually walking it off in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Northwestern 4-3 in the first round of the UMAC Tournament. With the win the Vikings move to 28-12 overall while the Eagles fall to 21-16. 

The first two innings of this one showcased the toughness of the two starting pitchers, with both working out of james early to keep the game scoreless through two. 

It wasn't until the third inning that the Eagles would get a first run, and they would use small ball to advance a runner to third base with two outs before a base hit to second base would allow the run to cross for the 1-0 lead. 

Bethany would threaten again in the third and fourth inning with two runners on base each inning, but they would come up short in each as UNW held onto their advantage. 

The Eagles would then make two quick outs to begin the fifth inning before two straight singles followed by a wild pitch would plate the game's second run. 

Haley Stockman would get the Vikings on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning as she would take the first pitch of the inning over the left field fence to cut the deficit in half at 2-1 headed to the sixth.

Northwestern would then threaten in the sixth inning by loading the bases with no one out, but a pair of great plays in the field would get force outs at home, before a a pop out helped get Kayla Senne out of the inning scot-free. 

Once again the Vikings would threaten in the sixth inning, loading the bases via three striaght two out walks but a foul out would end the threat and keep the Eagles with the advantage. 

Senne would make quick work of UNW in the top of the seventh to allow her bats to come up to the plate to try to bring a run across to even the game in the bottom half

Ana Christofferson would walk to start the rally with one out before a sacrifice bunt moved her over to second. Down to their final out of the game Aliya KehlerAliya Kehler would come through with a line drive up the middle to score Christofferson and even things at 2-2 and send the game to extra innings.

Northwestern would come right back in the top of the eighth, using a pair of errors to load the bases before a single brought in the go-ahead run to make it 3-2. A great play in right field by Sydney Jacobs would give Bethany their second out of the inning though before a lineout to third ended the inning. 

Jacobs would then lead off the eighth with a hit before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Katelyn Halbach would single to put runners on the corners with still no one out before Emily Doyle brought in the first run of the inning with a single through the left side to tie it up. Stockman would then lay down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position before Kaija Mork recorded the walk off single with a line drive down the left field line to seal the 4-3 win. 

Senne went eight innings, striking out three and allowing two earned runs in the win. 

Halbach and Kehler each led Bethany with two hits in the contest, while five other Vikings recorded base knocks. 

Bethany will now be back at it tomorrow at 1 p.m. when they host UW-Superior with a trip to the UMAC Championship on the line.