MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran softball team hosted No. 20 Central on Friday afternoon and fell to the Dutch in a pair of contests. The Vikings, who fall to 13-10 on the season, dropped game one 4-2 before a lightning delayed game two resulted in a 11-3 defeat.
Central 4 - 2 Bethany
Known for their speed and aptitude on the base paths, the Dutch tried to showcase that early with a pair of bunts going for base hits but
Emily Doyle made some nice plays early to keep them at bay.
Central would then launch a home run to open the second inning, before a single followed by two stolen bases and a Bethany error would put them up 2-0.
A walk followed by another stolen base and a bunt in the fourth inning would put a runner on third for Central, with a groundout bringing her in to make it 3-0.
The Dutch would then extend their lead in the top of the seventh, after a leadoff triple followed by a sac fly made the score 4-0.
Down to their final three outs, Bethany finally got something going in the bottom of the seventh. After the first two batters were put down in order,
Carly Nelson and
Jolyne LeClair would each reach before
Emily Meyer hit a ground rule double to make it 4-1. A walk followed by a
Bryn Weidner single would bring in another run and load the bases for
Orla Keys with the score at 4-2. Keys would knock a hard hit ball up the middle, but the pitcher would deflect it into the shortstops waiting arms and she would toss it to second for the force out to end the game.
Weidner and Meyer led the seven hit effort in game one as they each had two hits, while Meyer allowed just three earned runs and six hits in seven innings of work.
Central 11 - 3 Bethany
After a scoreless first inning of game two, Central would open the second with a walk followed by a triple and a single to take a 2-0 lead. Lightning then struck in the area and resulted in a near 2-hour delay before the teams were able to resume play just before 9 p.m.
Central then used a pair of Bethany errors alsong with some small ball to plate three more runs and hold a 5-0 lead.
Meyer would help her own cause in the circle in the bottom of the second, as she doubled and came around to score a on a few passed balls to make the score 5-1.
After Meyer tossed a scoreless third on the mound, Doyle then helped her out when she blasted a two-run home run to left field to make it 5-3.
The Dutch answered big in the fourth though, as they would put together four hits and use some more heads up baserunning to bring four runs across to make the score 9-3. They would add two more runs in the top of the fifth and Bethany couldn't put together a rally in the bottom half to extend the game as Central won via 8-run rule after five innings.
Bethany will next be in action on Friday when they travel to North Central for a 4 p.m. contest.
