COLLEGEVILLE, MINN.—It took the Bethel University Royals until game two at Saint John's (DH) to secure the outright 2026 MIAC Baseball Regular Season Championship after falling 10-9 in game one, and clinching the allusive title with a 17-9 win over the Johnnies in game two in Collegeville.
Bethel now has four MIAC Baseball Regular Season Championships after earning the outright crowns in 2022, 2017, and 2015.
The 2026 MIAC Baseball Playoff will include Bethel in their four-team double elimination field for the 13th time in school history, which included the last five seasons.
The Royals will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed, and are scheduled to face No. 4 seed Saint Mary's (Minn.) in game one of the MIAC Playoffs at CHS Field in downtown Saint Paul on Thursday, May 7 at 2:30 p.m. Game one will be followed by a game-two match that features No. 2 seed Macalester and No. 3 Saint Johns's at 7 p.m. at CHS Field.
Saint John's 10, Bethel 9 (Game One)
Hayden Sperbeck went 2-for-3 with a first-inning home run that gave Bethel a 1-0 lead. Going 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, three RBI, one sacrifice fly, and one run scored was Sam Abbas. Oran Hinkles's 2-for-4 performance included two RBI, and one run scored. Tyler Allshouse went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and ne stolen base.
Chris Lavin's two-run double in the fourth inning made up his 1-for-3 outing.
Saint John's had the slight 10-9 edge in hits. That advantage occurred at the tail end of the game, when Alex Matchy's walk off single in the seventh inning secured Saint John's a 10-9 victory.
Royals pitchers Drew Girtz, Cavan Banks, Jay Krieger, Ted Hohn, and Mark Anderson combined to give up 19 hits, 10 runs, eighth walks, and notch five strikeouts.
Bethel 17, Saint John's 9 ( Game Two)
The Johnnies led 3-1 through 2.0 innings. That all changed when Bethel's seven-run third inning put them in the driver's seat for good in a 17-9 win.
Bethel accumulated eight hits for extra bases. Two of them came from Drew Girtz, who was 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, one sacrifice fly, and one RBI. Sam Abbas's 3-for-5 performance included three runs scored, a hit by pitch, and three RBI.
Going 4-for-5 with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, two runs scored, a hit by pitch, and one walk was Ben Trucke. Sam Abbas was 3-for-5 with with three runs scored, a hit ny pitch, and three RBI. Oran Hinkle was 4-fot-6 with three runs scored, and one RBI. Chris Cannon's lone hit was a double after going 1-of-4 with one run scored, one RBI, and one stolen base.
Rounding out the multi hit Royals was Seth Nelson, who went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two RBI, and two walks. As well as Tyler Allshouse, who was 2-fot-5 with one run scored, one RBI, and one walk.
Jackson Hunter allowed nine hits, five runs, three walks, and notched four strikeouts over 5.0 innings to earn the winning decision. Zach Johnson, Brandon Witter, and Aiden Eckert finished the game over 2.0 innings in relief, where they combined to allow six hits.
No. 1 Seed Bethel will face No. 4 Saint Mary's (Minn.) in Game One of the 2026 MIAC Baseball Tournament in double elimination format at CHS Field in downtown St. Paul. on Thursday,, May 7 at 2:30 p.m.
