MINNEAPOLIS - The Bethel University baseball team opened their season under the bright lights of U.S. Bank Stadium in an overnight doubleheader with No. 28 Wartburg College in which the two teams split the pair of games by 2-1 and 5-0 scores. The Knights walked off with a two out single in the bottom of the seventh for the first game victory before Bethel controlled the second game throughout, scoring in the first inning and tacking on more as the game progressed. The first game began at 11 p.m. and the last pitch was thrown around 2:30 a.m. at the site of the recent Super Bowl LII.

Game one was a classic pitchers duel as Bethel's Michael Bohlke and Wartburg's Tanner Eckhart hooked up and tossed zeros through the first five and a half innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Wartburg was able to scratch across an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead into the seventh. Wartburg relief ace Austin Bohling, who sported a 6-1 record with a 0.89 ERA in 2017, came on for the save but the Royals had an answer. Austin Ledin led off the inning with a sharp single to left field. After a sacrifice bunt by Bo Lovdahl moved pinch runner Sam Riola to second, sophomore Joey Fredrickson laced a double deep into the right field corner to score Riola and tie the game at 1-1. Wartburg was able to sandwich a pair of hits around a pair of walks to score the game winning run with two outs off a pair of Royals relievers in the bottom of the seventh to take game one 2-1. 

Bohlke went six innings and allowed just two hits, one walk and one unearned run with three strikeouts in a no-decision. Bethel had five hits in the game with Fredrickson's double being the lone extra base hit. Sam Horner collected two hits in a 2-for-3 performance while Ledin was 1-for-2 with a walk. Fredrickson had the Royals other two hits in the game, also going 2-for-3.

Game two saw Bethel grab a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, which would be all the runs that senior Noah Luedtke would need. Luedtke went six strong innings, allowing just three hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Carson Selin pitched the seventh inning, allowing a hit but striking out the final two batters of the game. Mitch Butvilas singled and scored the games first run in the top of the first. Michael Wesner worked a walk to lead off the bottom of the second inning and came around to score after a perfect hit-and-run from Jake Schubert moved Wesner to third followed by an Esteban Velasco single to score Wesner, making it 2-0. The Royals scored two more runs in the fifth inning as Austin Ledin and Sam Horner led off with a hit by pitch and a bunt single and then scored later on a Wesner single. Velasco scored the Royals fifth run in the bottom of the sixth after leading off the inning with a single, moving to third on a John Leach single on a heads up baserunning play, and then scoring on a groundout. 

In the second game the Bethel bats produced 11 hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch to score their five runs. Esteban Velasco and Sam Horner both went 2-for-3 while Michael Wesner was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk. Brandon Meyer, John Leach, Jake Schubert, Mitch Butvilas, Bo Lovdahl and Joey Fredrickson all tallied a hit as every Royal who had an at bat in the game came away with at least one hit. 

The Royals will return to action at U.S. Bank Stadium next Tuesday with an early morning affair with Northland College. The doubleheader with the Lumberjacks will begin at 6 a.m. on March 6th. That contest will be followed by a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday, March 8th against Buena Vista.