Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box Score
MINNEAPOLIS - The Bethel Royals have made history as they are headed to the conference playoffs for the first time since the team joined the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in 1994.
Nea Harkness (Jr., Winthrop, Minn.) pitched eight strong innings while
Lynnae Thompson's (Jr., Stewartville, Minn.) game-winning RBI lifted Bethel to a 4-3 win over Augsburg in eight innings. The win helped the Royals earn a split in the doubleheader as the Auggies came from behind in the last inning to win the first game 5-4.
Game one ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Royals as they held a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning. However, a one-out triple, followed by a fielder's choice, and a double sank Bethel by a score of 5-4.
Bethel scored two runs in the top of the third inning thanks to a two-run double by
Amber Beasley (Sr., Medina, Minn.). Augsburg answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the teams traded runs in the fifth inning. With the score tied 3-3 after five innings,
Lauren Habisch (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) hit a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the sixth. It was her third home run in her last two games, giving her four on the season and seven in her career.
Rebecca Akerson (So., Lakeville, Minn.) started the game and pitched the first 3 2/3 innings before being lifted in favor of
Charitey Rowden (Jr., Shellsburg, Iowa).
In the second game, Bethel's bombers were at it again as
Kelly Berg (So., South Haven, Minn.) hit her fifth home run in the past two days and the 11th of her career. But it was
Ashley Johnsen's (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.) second collegiate home run that put the Royals up 1-0 in the top of the second inning. An RBI ground out by Beasley gave Bethel its second run of the inning.
Augsburg answered with three unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, forcing the game into an extra inning after scoreless sixth and seventh frames. Harkness faced the bottom of the Auggie order and got the number nine hitter to pop up to end the game and preserve the victory.
Bethel's 13th conference win is now a school record. The 13-7 Royals (22-16 overall) are scheduled to face Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., next Monday to wrap up the regular season before squaring off against Gustavus Adolphus College in the first round of the MIAC playoffs next weekend.
