Wednesday was an exhilarating day for the trio of teams competing, especially for the pair of tennis teams, who both managed to win two nonconference matches. The tennis results were highlighted by a gutsy 5-4 win over regionally-ranked UW-La Crosse, while the softball team brought great energy, but finished with a split over two talented opponents. 

Baseball
The Bethel University varsity baseball team had an off day Wednesday, but the JV defeated North Park University 15-4 to improve to 2-1 down in Florida and 3-1 overall. Pitching stars for the week were Riley Thompson, Cody Hepfler, and John Leach, while the standout batters included John Craig and Andrew Heuss. Jordan Jasic also tallied six stolen bases in three games. The varsity team practiced in the morning and then all players and coaches attended the Minnesota Twins spring training game against the Boston Red Sox in the evening at the CenturyLink Sports Complex.
 
The Royals play a doubleheader against Skidmore College tomorrow with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 9 a.m.

Softball
The BU softball team split their Wednesday morning games against The College of New Jersey and Anderson University (Indiana). The Royals had a late lead in both games, but a four-run seventh inning for Anderson kept the Bethel from sweeping two quality opponents. Caroline Kivisto tallied two home runs—one in each game—giving her 27 career blasts, which places her No. 1 among the BU record book.
 
Bethel's 2-1 win over TCNJ in game one was highlighted by Lindsay Edeen, who allowed six hits, two walks, and one run in the complete-game performance. Kivisto finished the game 1-for-2 with a walk. Wendy Roberts recorded the game-winning hit in the top of the sixth inning.
 
The Royals led Anderson 4-3 heading into the seventh inning, but the Ravens managed to score the game-tying run with two outs and later posted three more runs in the frame. Bethel gave a valiant effort in the bottom of the seventh, as Caroline Kivisto hit a ball that was caught near the top of the center field fence, Micayla Moore blasted a solo home run, Wendy Roberts singled, and Jessica Davis doubled to have the game-tying run on second, but BU was unable to drive the pair of runs in.

Roberts finished 2-for-3, while Kivisto was 2-of-4 with three RBI and one run scored. Abby Bircher added two runs and one RBI.

The softball team has their final off day of the trip tomorrow before finishing their week of competition Friday against UW-Stevens Point at 1 p.m. and Calvin College at 3 p.m.

Tennis
It's safe to say that the men's and women's tennis team are playing at a high level. The Bethel men, who came into the day at 11-3, improved to 13-3 on the season with a pair of wins over UW-La Crosse and the University of Dubuque. The Royals edged La Crosse, who is ranked No. 13 in the region, by a final score of 5-4, thanks to a 2-1 result in doubles play. Matt Schull, who was up half the night overcoming sickness, put on a gutsy performance—winning 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 at No. 1 singles and 9-8 (3) at the No. 1 doubles position with Luke Palmquist. Hunter Fernelius and Jakob Bartels, who both lost third-set tiebreakers at No. 3 and 4 singles, respectively, wont 8-3 at No. 3 doubles. Kolin Keikhoeffer wont 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles, while Luke Palmquist edged his opponent 6-0, 7-5 at No. 5 singles. The men then went on to defeat Dubuque by a final score of 8-1 in the second match of the day. The only loss came at No. 2 singles, where Jakob Bartels dropped the match by a final score of 4-6, 5-7 after playing up one spot.
 
The women played equally well, defeating the University of Dubuque 7-2 and Groucher College 9-0. With the pair of victories, Bethel's women's tennis team is now 12-2 on the year and 5-0 while in Florida. Sydney Parkinson dropped a heartbreaking match at No. 1 singles against Dubuque by a final score of 7-6 (1), 5-7, 8-10, but all other players dominated their opponent in singles play. Sarah Wallace and Madeline Simpson won at No. 2 doubles 8-5, while Emily Bauer and Rachel Eisenrich defeated their foe at No. 3 doubles 8-1. The Royals then went on to lose just seven total sets against Groucher in singles and doubles play combined.
 
Both teams will be challenged by Calvin College in their final match of the spring break trip Thursday morning at the Oak Street Tennis Courts.