MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran College Vikings won the 2025 UMAC Baseball Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon with a 6-3 win over the Crown College Polars. The tournament title is the fourth in the Vikings’ program history.
The Polars took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Kyler Thruston scored from third on a fielding error. Bethany Lutheran tied the game in the bottom half of the first with a sac fly by Xander Meissner.
Crown retook the lead in the second inning as Thruston doubled down the left field line to drive in Caleb Yowell, giving Crown a 2-1 lead. The Polars added a third run in the sixth inning on a nearly identical sequence, as this time Zach Adams doubled down the left field line with Yowell again scoring on the play to put Crown up 3-1.
Crown held the No. 1 seeded Vikings in check for most of the game, but then Bethany Lutheran struck with a five-run eighth inning. Gary Swann started the offensive avalanche with an RBI double to right, scoring Eli Fest to cut the Polars’ lead down to one. Nolan Spence tied the game for the Vikings with an RBI double down the left field line, scoring Swann. With the bases loaded, Malachi Santiago was hit by a pitch, scoring Aidan Russell and giving Bethany Lutheran the lead for the first time in the game. Seth Jones doubled the lead for BLC with a bases-loaded single to score Spence. Eli Fest then gave the Vikings a three-run lead by drawing a bases-loaded walk, scoring Josh Robb.
Trent Ash took the mound in the top of the ninth to close the game for Bethany Lutheran. The sophomore struck out two Polars and got the final out to earn the save and secure the tournament title for the Vikings.
Ash was named the UMAC Tournament MVP. He started the first game of the tournament for the Vikings, pitching seven innings and allowing just four hits and two runs while striking out 13 batters. Ash returned to pitch the final inning of the championship game, securing the tournament title with a save.
With the UMAC Tournament victory, Bethany Lutheran has earned the UMAC’s automatic bid and will advance to compete in the NCAA DIII Baseball Tournament.
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of eight full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, Northland College, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.
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