ST PAUL, Minn. - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) coaches poll came out on Thursday morning and Bethany Lutheran is projected to finish atop the conference. UW-Superior is projected to finish in second place while last year's tournament champion Crown is picked third.
The Bethany Lutheran College Vikings led the preseason poll with 49 points and seven first-place votes from their conference competitors. BLC won last year's regular season championship with a 17-4 UMAC record while going 20-14 overall.
As the UMAC Tournament's No. 1 seed in 2024, Bethany Lutheran fell 2-1 to Crown and 8-3 to Northwestern.
Head Coach:
Top Returners:
- Nolan Spence, Sr, 3B
- 1st team UMAC
- .412 ave, 47 hits, 36 RBI
- Aidan Russell, Sr, 1B
- 1st team UMAC, All Region, Player of the year
- .365 ave, 46 hits, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 11 SB
- Drew Hedtke, Jr, RHP
- 1st team UMAC, All Region, Pitcher of the year
- 5-2, 2.03 ERA, 63 Ks, 6 CG's
The Vikings will kick off play this Monday and Tuesday when they host Buena Vista in a three-games series. Bethany will play 14 nonconference games in the next month before they open up UMAC play at home against Martin Luther on March 21st.
The 2025 UMAC Baseball Tournament will be held Thursday-Saturday, May 8-10 with Bethany Lutheran College hosting all tournament games at ISG Field in Mankato, Minnesota. The championship is a four-team double-elimination tournament. The tournament champion will receive the UMAC's automatic qualifying bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
