MANKATO, Minn. - Aidan Russell delivered four hits on Friday afternoon, but none more impactful than his eighth-inning RBI single that not only gave him the Bethany Lutheran baseball career hits record (193) but also lifted the Vikings to a 4-3 lead over Northwestern. The Vikings held firm in the ninth to secure the victory and punch their ticket to the UMAC Championship game against Crown on Saturday at 1 p.m. With the win, Bethany improves to 29-13 overall and now needs just one win on Saturday to claim the UMAC title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Crown will need to defeat the Vikings twice to win the championship.
Hear from the Vikings
Here's what head coach Ryan Kragh had to say about the game.
Kragh: "I thought Gamble was special tonight and our offense did just enough. We still haven't played our best baseball. Hope we can do that tomorrow."
Inside the Box Score
Runs were tough to come by early, with both teams scoreless through the first three innings. Bethany struck first in the fourth when Josh Robb doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Will Carlson single.
The Vikings added another in the fifth as Gary Swann singled and Russell doubled to put two in scoring position. After a walk loaded the bases, Nolan Spence delivered a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
The runs would subside for a few innings and it was Northwestern who got the next good chance. They got a runner to second to open thanks to a single and Bethany error, but a great play from Malachi Santiago connecting with Spence to get the runner at third took the runner out of scoring position. Another single would put two on, but Bethany starter Sean Gamble would get a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning.
Bethany extended its lead to 3-0 in the seventh when Cael Willaert advanced to third on a single by Robb and scored after the throw trying to cut him down skipped by the third baseman and into the dugout to allow him an extra base.
Northwestern rallied in the eighth with two walks and a single to load the bases. A groundout plated their first run, before a base hit up the middle tied the game at 3-3.
Bethany responded immediately in the bottom of the eighth. After a throwing error and an Eli Fest single, Russell came through with a clutch base hit up the middle—his fourth of the game—to score Carlson and reclaim the lead.
In the ninth, Gamble recorded two quick outs before issuing a walk, prompting Ty Vollmar to enter in relief. After allowing a single, Vollmar induced a groundout to first, where Xander Meissner made the play to seal the win.
Russell and Fest did much of the heavy lifting for Bethany as they accounted for seven of the team's 11 hits, with Russell tallying four and Fest three.
Gamble was lights out for the Vikings, striking out 11 hitters and allowing just the three runs in 8.2 innings.
