ST. PAUL, Minn. – The opening games of the 2026 UMAC Softball Tournament took place on Thursday at Reynolds Field in Roseville, Minn. No. 2 Bethany Lutheran defeated No. 3 UW-Superior 2-0 and No. 1 University of Northwestern used a walk off homerun to triumph over No. 4 Minnesota Morris 3-2 in eight innings.

GAME 1: Bethany Lutheran 2, UW-Superior 0 
Carly Nelson gave the Vikings the early 1-0 lead with her RBI single in the first. Addie Ahern doubled the margin with her solo homer in the second.

UW-Superior had bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh. The next two batters were retired to quell the scoring threat.

Both pitchers went the distance as Emily Meyer registered seven strikeouts in the victory, and Abby Mitchell had eight K’s in the circle for the YellowJackets.

UW-Superior recorded eight hits, which included three from Sophia Otto.
 
Game 2: Northwestern 3, Minnesota Morris 2 (8 innings)
The Cougars were the first team on the scoreboard with one run in the third inning on a bases loaded walk.

The Eagles answered in the bottom of the frame as Hannah Storey plated Lani Schoper to even it at 1-1. Storey then later scored on Emma Edwards’ single to left for the go-ahead run.

Minnesota Morris tied it in the sixth as Kendra Schmitz’ RBI single up the middle to bring in GingerAnn Lucas to make it 2-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, Northwestern had runners on first and second with one out. The next batter hit into a double play to send the game to extra innings.

With one out, in the bottom of the eighth, Kate Trump hit a solo shot for the walkoff win.

Both pitchers threw complete games as Ireland Strubbe registered five strikeouts and only surrendered two hits in the circle for the Eagles.

SCHEDULE
• Thursday, May 7
    - G1 | 2:00 PM | #2 Bethany Lutheran vs. #3 UW-Superior, BLC won 2-0
    Box Score
    - G2 | 4:30 PM | #1 Northwestern vs. #4 Minnesota Morris, UNW won 3-2 in eight innings
    Box Score
• Friday, May 8
    - G3 | 11:00 AM | Bethany Lutheran vs Northwestern
    - G4 | 1:30 PM | UW-Superior vs Minnesota Morris
    - G5 | 4:00 PM | G3 loser vs G4 winner
• Saturday, May 9
    - G6 | 12:00 PM | G4 winner vs G5 winner
     -G7 (if necessary) | 2:30 p.m.

| Tournament Championship Page |