Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box Score
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - It's been said that records were meant to be broken, and that's exactly what happened this windy afternoon on the campus of Saint Benedict. The Royals defeated the hosting Blazers in both games of their doubleheader by scores of 5-1 and 14-4, giving Bethel more than 20 season victories for the first time in school history. The pair of conference wins also guarantees that the Royals will at least equal their previous best MIAC win total with 12.
Individually, shortstop
Kelly Berg (So., South Haven, Minn.) hit four home runs today, giving her seven on the season, which is a new team single season record. The previous record was six, set by three-time All-MIAC and All-Region Second Team shortstop Jami (Hillenbrand) Eckerle in 1997.
Lauren Habisch (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) also parked two balls beyond the fence and hit her fifth triple of the season in the victories.
Pitchers Rebecca Akerson (So., Lakeville, Minn.) and
Charitey Rowden (Jr., Shellsburg, Iowa) both earned wins today. For Akerson, it was her 11th of the season, which is the best for a Royal pitcher since pitching coach Angela Vedders tallied 16 in 2006.
Bethel got out to a quick 4-0 lead in game one by scoring twice in both the first and second innings, aided by one of Berg's homers as well as RBI singles by
Amber Beasley (Sr., Medina, Minn.) and
Lynnae Thompson (Jr., Stewartville, Minn.). The Royals tacked on an additional run in the top of the sixth inning off of Berg's second home run of the game, which was a solo blast. The Blazers answered with their only run of the game against Akerson in the bottom of the sixth inning. Akerson pitched seven strong innings for her 12th complete game of the season, pushing her past the 100 inning mark. She allowed seven hits, did not walk anyone, and struck out four Blazer batters.
Despite the wind blowing out, game two began very calm as neither team scored for the first two frames. However, Bethel changed that by scoring in each of the next five innings, starting with five runs in the top of the third. The inning was highlighted by a three-run home run by Habisch, which accounted for half of her game RBI total. The next inning, she accounted for the other half with another three-run shot as the Royals scored four times to take a 9-0 lead.
However, Saint Benedict came back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to narrow the gap. But pitcher Rowden held Blazer bats at bay for much of the rest of the game, surrendering just one additional run while her teammates got her five more runs to work with. Rowden pitched her seventh complete game of the season, allowing four runs on seven hits. She struck out six batters and did not walk any in her third win of 2009.
Karina Roe (Sr., Grey Eagle, Minn.) brought her batting average up 30 points with a 4-for-5 performance that included two RBIs. Berg hit two more home runs and had three more RBIs, bringing her day's output to six. She now has seven home runs and 15 RBIs in conference play, while boasting a .448 average against MIAC pitching.
The Royals are now 21-15 overall and 12-6 in MIAC play heading into Saturday's conference doubleheader against Augsburg, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Minneapolis.
