MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team came up just short in two games with Bethany Lutheran College on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Vikings by scores of 5-1 and 11-9. Bethany Lutheran broke open a tied game in the seventh inning of the opener before picking up the second win in 11 innings. With the two losses, the Cougars sink to 25-12 (12-3 UMAC).

Minnesota Morris wraps up the regular season with a three-game series at North Central University on Friday and Saturday in Minneapolis. The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m.

Game 1: Bethany Lutheran 5, Minnesota Morris 1
Four runs in the seventh inning for Bethany Lutheran broke open what had been a tie game for much of the way and brought the Vikings level in the series at a game apiece for the two squads.

Early on, Bethany Lutheran took a 1-0 lead with a lead-off single and a stolen base from Sydney Jacobs, followed by a RBI single from Katelyn Halbach.

The Vikings maintained their 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third when Minnesota Morris drew level. Singles from Olivia Losee, Sierra Stevens, and Alice Wilkinson loaded the bases and Mary Landherr drove Losee in on a fielder's choice.

Minnesota Morris had two golden opportunities to take the lead, putting two runners on with one out in both the fourth and sixth innings, only to see Kayla Senne escape the jam and keep the game tied at 1-1.

An error to lead off the top of the seventh opened the door for Bethany Lutheran and Bryn Weidner tripled with one out in the inning to put the Vikings ahead. Halbach drove in two more later in the inning with a double before scoring on a wild pitch to make it 5-1. Minnesota Morris went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to finish it.

Stevens and Alyssa Thornton had two hits apiece for the Cougars. Skyla Bristol (11-3) went the distance and struck out nine but was charged with the loss.

Game 2: Bethany Lutheran 11, Minnesota Morris 9 (11 innings)
A pair of dramatic Minnesota Morris comebacks ultimately came up empty in the final game of the series as Bethany Lutheran produced the sweep of the action on Wednesday. 

Two runs from Bethany Lutheran in both the first and second innings put Minnesota Morris in an early hole, but the Cougars were able to make a game of it in the middle innings. Two errors from the Vikings in the bottom of the third gave Stevens the chance to score and cut it to 4-1. BLC reestablished a four-run lead in the fourth inning with a RBI double from Emily Doyle.

The comeback started in earnest in the bottom of the fifth. Some control issues from Senne led to three walks and two occasions in which Cougar runners advanced on a wild pitch. In the middle of the rally, Bristol chipped in with a RBI single and Tori Nichols plated another with a RBI double to bring Minnesota Morris within a run at 5-4.

Down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh, Nichols came through again for the Cougars with a clutch RBI single to right that scored Landherr and knotted the game at 5-5.

The game remained deadlocked through the first two innings of bonus softball, so the international tiebreaker was introduced starting in the 10th inning. Bethany Lutheran was able to take advantage of the runner placed on second base to start the frame to push three runs across and take an 8-5 lead. Undeterred, Minnesota Morris came back to tie the score on a RBI double from Olivia Diver, a RBI groundout from Losee, and a game-tying RBI single from Anna Athey that made it 8-8 and sent the game into the 11th inning.

Bethany Lutheran finally put the game away in the 11th inning, putting three more runs on the board to take an 11-8 edge. With Landherr on second to start the bottom of the 11th, the Vikings retired the first two Cougar hitters before a ground-rule double from Nichols gave UMN Morris a bit of life and brought them to within two runs. Unfortunately, the game ended with the tying run at the plate as Senne retired the side.

Three Cougar pitchers threw in the final game of the series, with Thornton and Athena Grimley getting no-decisions and Morgan Wilhelm (2-4) being charged with the loss. Nichols was the top hitter for Minnesota Morris in the game with a 4-for-6 contest that included three RBIs.