MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets (26-13-6, 12-6 UMAC) won the 2024 UMAC Softball Tournament Championship on Saturday with a 6-5 victory over the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings (29-14, 15-3 UMAC). The UMAC postseason title is the fourth in program history for the Yellowjackets and their third in the last four years.
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The Vikings leaped out to an early lead as Kaija Mork hit an RBI double in the top of the first inning to put BLC up 1-0, but Wisconsin-Superior responded with three runs in the bottom of the opening frame to take a 3-1 lead. Ellie Macal hit an RBI single to tie the game and MyKenzie Leccia followed two batters later with a double that drove in two runs for the Yellowjackets.
Bethany Lutheran put together a three-run inning of their own in the fourth to retake the lead up 4-3. The Vikings added another run in the top of the fifth as Mork launched a solo shot to center to give BLC a 5-3 lead.
Trailing by two, the Yellowjackets started to chip away at the Vikings’ lead. Zoe Thompson drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut Bethany Lutheran’s lead in half. An inning later, Jessica Jacobson tied the game at 5-5 with an RBI single to left center.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Zoe Thompson led off with a double to right center to get the game-winning run in scoring position for the Yellowjackets. The Vikings were able to fend off the next two batters with a fly out and strikeout, but then Leccia entered the batters box. The Wisconsin-Superior sophomore launched a hit to left center that bounced over the wall to drive in the championship winning run on a walk-off ground-rule double.
Samantha Swartz earned the win for the Yellowjackets. The sophomore entered the game in the fourth inning and pitched the rest of the game for Wisconsin-Superior, giving up just one earned run in the championship game.
Leccia was named the 2024 UMAC Softball Tournament Most Valuable Player.
With the conference tournament victory, Wisconsin-Superior has earned the UMAC’s automatic bid and will advance to compete in the NCAA DIII Championship. The Yellowjackets will find out on Monday, May 13 in the NCAA Selection Show who they will compete against in the first round of the national tournament next week.