MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran College Vikings won the 2025 UMAC Softball Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon with a 5-2 win over the University of Northwestern Eagles. The tournament title is the third in the Vikings’ program history.
The Eagles leapt out to an early 2-0 lead in the championship game. Lani Schoper doubled to right center to drive in Mikayla Gee in the first inning for Northwestern. Two batters later, Jayden Iverson drove in Schoper with a single to right center to put the Eagles up 2-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, Orla Keys tripled to lead off the inning for BLC. Orla went on to score on a sacrifice from Carly Nelson to cut Northwestern’s lead in half. Later in the inning, Emily Doyle tied the game up at 2-2 with an RBI double down the left field line to score Bryn Weidner.
The Vikings added three more runs in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Keys singled to right field to drive to drive in two and give Bethany Lutheran their first lead of the game up 4-2. Two batters later, Weidner drove in another run for the Vikings with an RBI single to center, putting BLC up 5-2.
The run support would be more than enough as Emily Meyer held the Eagles scoreless after the two-run opening frame. Meyer won her 21
st game of the season in a complete game effort, striking out eight along the way.
Meyer was named the UMAC Tournament MVP. The sophomore led Bethany Lutheran in the circle, pitching every inning of every game for the Vikings. In 21 innings through three games, Meyer allowed just four earned runs for an ERA of 1.33 while striking out 17.
With the UMAC Tournament victory, Bethany Lutheran has earned the UMAC’s automatic bid and will advance to compete in the NCAA DIII Softball 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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