ROCHESTER, Minn.—Opening day for the Bethel softball team featured an early morning road trip to Rochester, Minn., to play a pair nonconference games against UW-Stout and No. 6-ranked Luther College.

The Royals took on the Blue Devils in Saturday's opener and fell by a final score of 4-2. It did not take BU long to start the scoring. After a one-two-three top of the first, Wendy Roberts lead off the 2017 season with a triple. She then scored in the next at-bat on a RBI-single by Mariah Uphoff to put the Royals up 1-0. Stout answered in the top of the second getting back the run, but the Royals responded in the bottom half of the four, scoring on a groundout by Alexa Hanowski. Stout scored three more unanswered runs to take the lead and eventually held on for the win. Bethel had the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, but a groundout to the pitcher dashed their hopes of victory.

Anna Nichols pitched a complete game in her first start of the year and gave up all four runs that UW-Stout score; however, only three of these runs were earned. The hits were even at six apiece, but BU left seven runners on base opposed to the Blue Devils, who stranded just four.

The second game against the Norse did not go much better for the Royals as they fell by a final score of 14-2. No. 6-ranked Luther got out of the gate fast, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the first and then another 4 runs in the bottom of the second giving them a 13-0 lead after 2 innings.The Royals lone runs came in the top of the third, when Hannah Hensley hit a two-run double.

The Royals softball team will have a little break before they are back in action down in Clermont, Fla., on March 11. They won't play at Bethel's Ona Orth Complex until April 2.