MANKATO, Minn. -
Kaija Mork had seven hits in eight at-bats on Saturday as the Bethany Lutheran softball team split a pair of contests, defeating Hamline 9-3 before falling to Saint Mary's 9-4. With the results the Vikings will move to 4-2 on the season.
Bethany 9 - 3 Hamline
The Vikings kicked things off with a bang in the bottom of the first in this one, as Mork would work a scoreless top of the first on the mound before coming up with a runner on in the bottom half and blasting a two-run shot to right center for the 2-0 lead. Bethany wasn't done there though, as
Orla Keys would come up with two outs and a runner on and deliver a triple to score one, before a
Carly Nelson single brought Keys home to make it 4-0.
Hamline would get an unearned run in the top of the second inning and things would go scoreless until the fourth where the Pipers would add two more.
Emily Meyer would come on to shut down the threat though and the Vikings held onto a 4-3 advantage.
Bethany would respond in a big way in teh bottom half, as they would put together five hits including singles from Mork and
Aliya Edbom-Kehler that each drove in two runs to push the score to 8-3.
Meyer would continue to keep the Pipers at bay in the circle and Bethany would add one more in the sixth thanks to an
Emily Doyle single to push the game to its final of 9-3.
Mork had three hits and four RBI in the first contest while Doyle, Edbom-Kehler,
Jolyne LeClair, and
Addie Ahern each added two hits.
Saint Mary's 9 - 4 Bethany
Viking mistakes would hurt them to start game two on the day as two free passes as well as a Bethany error followed by an SMU hit would make it 3-0.
Carly Nelson would blast a solo homer in the top of the second inning, but Saint Mary's would respond by playing small ball for a run in the bottom half to go up 4-1.
Bethany once again responded in the top of the third, as Mork would single with two outs before Doyle would step up and blast one off the back wall of the dome to make it a 4-3 ball game.
After a few scoreless half frames, the Cardinals would start to run away with things in the bottom of the fourth. Two straight hits to open the inning for SMU were followed by a three run home run to left to make it 7-3. Saint Mary's would then advance a runner third base following a single and some solid baserunning before they took advantage of a Viking error following a walk to put a runner at third and bring one home. A two-out single from SMU would then make the score 9-3 headed to the fifth.
The Vikings would add one more run in the top of the fifth after Mork singled and was drove in by a Edbom-Kehler double to make the score 9-4 but it would hold from there as the Cardinals would hang on for the win.
Mork had four hits to lead Bethany at the plate in this one while Edbom-Kehler and Carly Nelson each had two.
Becca Kuck was strong in relief for the Vikings, as she tossed 2.1 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits.
Bethany now has a week off before they're back in action next Saturday when they open up play in Winter Haven, Florida at 11:15 a.m. EST against Benedictine (Ill.)
