ST. PAUL — It was a dramatic day for baseball in St. Paul Tuesday, as Bethel University and the University of St. Thomas gave fans in attendance playoff-atmosphere baseball. The Royals (29-7, 14-4 MIAC) captured a thrilling eight-inning victory over the Tommies (23-12, 15-3 MIAC) in game one, but UST answered with antics of their own in game two—winning with a seventh-inning walkoff to even the series and remain atop the MIAC standings by one game. With the series split, BU not only knows they'll be making their fifth MIAC Playoff appearance in the last six years, but that they'll also be seeded no lower than No. 2.
Both games featured dynamite pitching from both programs. In fact, the Royals were shutout in Tuesday's opener until the seventh frame, when they turned a 0-3 deficit into a 3-3 tie and later won in the eighth.
Ryan Evenson began the seventh with a single to right, which was followed by a UST error in
Brandon Meyer's at-bat.
Lars Anderson then ripped the first pitch down the left field line, which plated Evenson and advanced Meyer to third.
Bret Neuville drove in BU's second run with a dribbler down the first base line and
Mitch Butvilas drove in the game-tying run with a two-out single to right.
The Royals then held St. Thomas scoreless in the bottom of the seventh and added two more in the top of the eighth.
Joey Fredrickson drew a leadoff walk and
John Horner sacrificed him to second.
Brandon Meyer then hit a one-out double to right and later scored when
Tony Favilla hit a two-out single to center.
Jake Marsh then entered on the bump and earned his sixth save of the season by mowing the Tommies down in order with a pair of strikeouts.
Three BU players finished with multiple hits in game one, including
Brandon Meyer,
Lars Anderson, and
Mitch Butvilas. Meyer and Anderson each had a double and all three, along with
Tony Favilla and
Bret Neuville, tallied an RBI.
Michael Willman got the start and pitched four scoreless innings until giving up a three spot in the fifth.
Grant Martinson and
John Leach pitched the sixth before
Houston Droel improved to 4-1 on the season with a 1-2-3 seventh, which included two strikeouts.
Game two was eerily similar, as neither team got much going on offense until late in the contest. Bethel struck first in the fourth when
Bret Neuville hit a one-out double to center, which was immediately followed by
Austin Ledin's double.
UST evened the score in the sixth, but BU managed to get back on top in the seventh when
John Horner hit a two-out single to center that scored
Brady Soderstrom, who was pinch running for
Austin Ledin.
The Royals went back to Marsh in the bottom of the seventh with a 2-1 lead—trying to get him save No. 7 on the season—but the Tommies put together a one-out rally that led to a pair of runs and a walkoff victory.
BU garnered three hits throughout Tuesday's finale, which was shortened to seven innings because the first game went into extra innings.
Noah Luedtke allowed one run on four runs and zero walks, while striking out five in 5.2 innings pitched.
David Cushing also pitched in relief and got a critical strikeout in the sixth with runners on first and second.
Bethel will continue its season Thursday, when they welcome the College of St. Scholastica for a nine-inning nonconference showdown at 4:30 p.m. They then closeout the regular season with a twin bill against Saint Mary's on Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m.
