ARDEN HILLS, Minn.  — For the first time in program history Bethel University's softball team is MIAC Champions. It wasn't easy and it didn't come without drama, but following Saturday's sweep over Carleton, the 2015 squad stamped their place in history.
 
Following their sweep at Hamline University last Wednesday, BU catapulted themselves into a two-way tie for first place with the Pipers. However, because they had swept them in head-to-head play, Bethel owned the tiebreaker should they win out. In order to secure the conference crown, BU needed a pair of wins Saturday in their regular season finale against Carleton.
 
The Royals jumped out to an 8-1 lead after four innings of play against the Knights, but Carleton had no intentions of rolling over and playing dead. Instead, the Knights put up two in the fifth and five in the sixth, which knotted the score at 8-8 after 5.5 innings played.
 
Brooke Charleston then recorded the hit of her career, when she laced a two-out, bases loaded single to left in the bottom of the sixth that drove in two runs and gave Bethel an 8-6 advantage. Scoring two proved to be critical, as the Knights scored one in the top of the seventh and had the game-tying run thrown out at the plate.
 
DRAMA!
 
Carleton still wasn't deflated in game two. They opened the game with a 1-0 lead in the second inning and went ahead 3-1 after 3.5 frames. But the Royals scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and two in the sixth to secure their 13th win in the last 15 games and their first-ever MIAC title.
 
"This trophy speaks for the leadership that we have on this team," commented first-year head coach Penny Foore after the game. "These girls have a heart of a champion and now they know what it feels like to be crowned a champion."
 
Brooke Charleston and Kelsey Anderson each finished the first game 3-for-4. Anderson scored twice and drove in two more, while Charleston tallied four RBIs. Caroline Kivisto, Abbie Bircher, and Micayla Moore also finished Saturday's opener with multiple hits.
 
Lindsay Edeen started game one in the circle and allowed seven runs in five innings pitched. Karli Persson picked up her 12th win of the season with a two-inning relief appearance.
 
"We battled when we needed to battle," continued Foore. "When we were down, we fought back and did what was necessary."
 
Angie Jackson was the only Bethel player to composed multiple hits at the plate in Saturday's finale. Jackson was 2-for-3 with a walk, one run, and one RBI. Kelsey Anderson finished her incredible day with a 1-for-2 effort and three runs batted in.
 
"Early on in the season we struggled to find our identity as a team," added Foore. "During our recent stretch, however, we've changed our focus from trying to figure out how to win, to instead, how to play our game and force others to beat us."
 
Thanks to Saturday's sweep—Bethel's seventh in league play this year—the Royals are rewarded with both the top seed in the 2015 MIAC Playoffs as well as the opportunity to host all postseason games at Ona Orth Complex this weekend.

Bethel's trip to the postseason is their third straight and first under head coach Penny Foore. More tournament information will be released later this week, but the Royals know they will face No. 4-seeded St. Thomas in the opening game of the postseason Friday at 3 p.m.