NORTHFIELD, Minn. – In a combined 17 run effort, the Bethel University softball team opened its 2019 campaign with a sweep of UW-Stevens Point Sunday evening inside the Dundas Dome. The Royals used a seven-run fifth inning to defeat the Pointers 10-2 before holding off a UWSPbcomeback to take the nightcap 7-6.

Bethel starts the season with back-to-back wins for the second straight season. The Royals look to continue their winning was Monday morning as they take on the College of St. Scholastica in a non-conference doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. inside the West St. Paul Dome.

Sophomore outfielder Amanda Gemuenden led the offensive attacking going 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles and driving in two runs. Sophomore infielder Jamie Axelberg was right behind her going 5-for-7 with a home run and four runs. Returning All-MIAC infielder Allie Fauth had three hits, including a triple, and drove in a pair of runs in the nightcap.

Game 1: Bethel 10, UWSP 2 (5 innings)
It was the Pointers to strike first, but the Royals who had the last say scoring 10 unanswered runs.

UWSP plated two runs in the second on starter Hannah Schmidt. The right-hander hurler had some help from her offensive as junior Cassidy Abbott tied things up with a two-run home run to dead center. Senior Maddie Fauth gave the Royals the lead scoring off a double steal attempt when Alexa Hanowski kept herself in the rundown between first and second long enough to score Fauth who reached on a double.

Schmidt allowed just one hit through the final three innings which allowed the offensive to do the rest of the grunt work.

BU sent all nine hitters to the plate in the fifth. The highlight of the seven-run inning came when freshman catcher Courtney Hokanson blasted her first collegiate home run, which drove in three runs before Hanowski doubled driving in Bethel's 10th run for the shortened-game victory.

Game 2: Bethel 7, UWSP 6
In her Bethel debut, freshman Calli Maki faced a challenge down the stretch but the right-hander buckled down to collect her first college win in complete game fashion. Maki surrendered one walk while striking out six.

As the home team in game two, UWSP struck first once again using three straight hits to put a pair of runs on the board in the first.

Second inning magic came once again for BU as they plated all four runs with two outs. Back-to-back singles by Maddie Fauth and Hanowski drove in runs to tie the game up. Leadoff hitter Allie Fauth wasted no time to connect on the first pitch to send a triple all the way to the wall scoring two more.

Maki settled in after the first retiring nine of the next 12 she faced through three innings of work. During that stretch the Royals strung together two more runs with RBIs from the top of the lineup. Axelbert added another insurance run with a solo shot to center pushing the BU lead to five runs.

The Pointers did not go away quietly pulling together three doubles to plate two more runs in the fifth cutting the Royal lead to 7-4. The UWSP bullpen kept Bethel off the scoreboard in the final two innings just in time to spark a comeback of its own.

USWP led off the bottom of the seventh with a single that was driven in one batter later with a triple to right. Maki bucked down and produced a fly out and a lineout before giving a double that pulled the Pointers within a run and put the tying run at second. Showing no signs of panic Maki got UWSP's Anna Pistone to send a chopper over to short as Axelberg made the throw in plenty of time for the win.