MINNETONKA, Minn.—Bethel University's hopes of being crowned both MIAC baseball regular season and playoff champions were dashed Saturday afternoon, as the Royals fell to Saint John's University on day two of the conference tournament by a final score of 7-9.
 
Despite not earning the postseason title and, consequently, the league's automatic bid into the 2015 NCAA Tournament the Royals have much to be proud of. Bethel became the first MIAC team to dethrone St. Thomas as regular season champions in the last 12 years. Moreover, BU reached 30 total wins, including 15 in conference play, which were both a school record.

And for a team that had completely missed the playoffs for 12 straight years prior to Brian Raabe taking over as head coach, a regular season championship and the No. 1 seed puts another notch in the Bethel belt after reaching the playoffs, winning their first-ever postseason game, and playing in the conference championship the three years prior.
 
BU trailed 4-0 early on, but battled back and never let the game get out of hand. The Royals scored one in the second inning, thanks to a leadoff double by Mike Schultz and an RBI-single from Esteban Velasco with two outs. Bethel then brought it to within one when Lars Anderson hit a two-out single to right field with the bases loaded.
 
The Johnnies tacked on two more in the fourth before Mike Schultz hit a two-run blast to center field that brought the SJU lead back to one. Unfortunately for the Royals, a two out error in the eighth allowed Saint John's to hit a two-run home run that gave the Johnnies an 8-5 lead in the eighth and an insurance run in the ninth had BU down 9-5 with three outs remaining.

The Royals never quit, though. In the bottom of the ninth, Matt Conrad led off with a base hit up the middle, which allowed Mike Schultz to sail his second two-run home run of the day to left center. Trailing 7-9 with two outs and runners on first and second, Bethel's senior third baseman Nik Anderson hit a laser down the first base line, but a glove save by the Johnnies' Patrick Strey ended the Royals' comeback bid in the nine-inning affair.
 
Senior catcher Mike Schultz went out with a bang, as the Forest Lake, Minn., native went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and four batted in. Schultz posted 11 total bases thanks to a pair of home runs, a double, and a single. Lars Anderson, who posted two of Bethel's three hits yesterday, continued his hot streak with three hits today in five at-bats. Anderson drove in two runs with his single back in the third inning. Esteban Velasco went 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Bret Neuville went 1-for-4 with a HBP and two runs scored.
 
Tyler Heitmann (9-1) suffered his first loss of the year after allowing four earned runs off of 11 hits and two walks in 5.0 innings. Kelvin Minnig gave the Royals a great chance to comeback with one earned run allowed in four innings of relief. Minnig recorded six strikeouts and one walk against 19 batters faced.
 
Bethel's club is still hoping to see their names in the field of 54 teams that reach the NCAA tournament. The Royals were seeded fourth in the latest region rankings, which gives BU a chance at an at-large bid. The NCAA will release the field of postseason teams on Sunday night at 11 p.m. at ncaa.com.