ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Facing elimination, the No. 12th-ranked Bethel University softball team held off Buena Vista in a back-and-forth contest, 3-2, Saturday evening at Ona Orth Athletic Complex in the NCAA Division III Championships. It was the first time in six meetings and since 2006 that the two squad meet up outdoors.
 
The win improves the Royals to 35-5 and advances them into the regional championship Sunday for a rematch with Washington University in St. Louis, who the Royals fell to in game one on Saturday 2-1. Bethel will need to win twice to keep its postseason run going. Game one is set for noon while game two, if BU wins, will be played 35 minutes after.
 
Jamie Axelberg picked the perfect time for her third career triple. Knocking a triple into the left field corner she went into third standing up as Cortney Hokanson scored all the way from first putting the Royals up 1-0 in the second.
 
The Beavers tied it up in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out RBI double.
 
Kayla Simacek kicked off the third with back-to-back strikeouts retiring the next six she faced. She finished with nine Ks in the circle.
 
The Royals run production continued in the fifth with two outs. Lexi DeBace snuck a 2-2 pitch inside the right field line as it rolled into the corner. Scoring was Angela Dabu as DeBace rounded the bases crossing home with a stand up inside the park home run putting BU ahead 3-1.
 
BVU got one back in the home half of the inning cutting it to 3-2 with a single, a sacrifice bunt and then another single.
 
The Beavers threatened one more time in the seventh with a leadoff single before moving that runner into scoring position with a bunt. Allie Fauth tracked down a fly ball in right-center gap before a pop up to Izzy Wilhelm at third ended it avenging a pair of losses the Royals had to the Beavers back in March.



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