MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran softball team claimed the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship on Saturday with a come-from-behind 5-2 win over Northwestern, earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. With the victory, the Vikings improve to 28-13 overall and will now await their NCAA Tournament destination, which will be announced Monday at 10 a.m. The tournament appearance will be the third for the Vikings, with the other two coming in 2022 and 2013. 

Inside the Box Scores

The first inning was déjà vu all over again for the Vikings and Emily Meyer. The sophomore allowed a walk in the top of the first, followed by a double and a single that brought two quick runs across for Northwestern and mimicked yesterday's opening inning. 

But just like Friday, the Vikings found their rhythm, finally breaking through in the bottom of the third inning. Orla Keys led off with a triple, and a safety squeeze bunt by Emily Nelson brought her home. With the bases clear, Bryn Weidner knocked an infield single and stole second. When the throw to second escaped into center field, she scrambled to third. Emily Doyle then stepped up—just as she had the day before—and lined a double into the left-field corner to tie the game at 2-2.

After Meyer tossed a scoreless top of the fourth, the offense came through again in the bottom half. Meyer opened the inning by getting hit by a pitch, and Carly Nelson followed with a single through the left side. Jolyne LeClair laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, setting the stage for another clutch hit by Keys. The junior delivered a line drive into right field to plate two more runs, though she was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. The inning wasn't over yet—Emily Nelson reached on an error, stole second, and came around to score on a Weidner single, making it 5-2 heading into the fifth.

UNW led off the fifth with a double, but the runner tried to stretch it into a triple and was gunned down on a relay from LeClair to Doyle, halting the threat. Meyer then retired the next two batters quickly to end the inning.

Bethany went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, and Meyer worked around a leadoff single in the sixth to put the Vikings just three outs away from the title.

After the offense was held scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Meyer took the circle to close it out. A flyout to left and a slick play from Meyer herself recorded two quick outs. UNW managed a bunt single to bring the tying run to the on-deck circle, but Meyer induced a flyout to Weidner in left, who secured the final out and sent the Vikings to the NCAA Tournament.

Keys led the offense in her first start of the UMAC Tournament, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Weidner added two hits for the Vikings.

Meyer's third complete game of the tournament earned her UMAC Tournament MVP honors. She struck out eight while scattering six hits in the championship effort.