Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College Knights catcher Chloe Berg knocks down a pitch in the first game of a UMAC softball doubleheader against Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday at MLC.

By Travis Rosenau

trosenau@nujournal.com

NEW ULM — Martin Luther College had a tough time dealing with the Bethany Lutheran College bats on Saturday afternoon as the Vikings swept the Knights in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader at MLC.

The Vikings took the opener 15-1 in five innings and won 23-2 in five innings in Game 2 to finish off the three-game series 3-0. The Vikings defeated the Knights 5-0 in New Ulm on Friday.

The Vikings outhit the Knights 13-2 in Game 1 Saturday and 21-4 in Game 2.

GAME 1

Emily Meyer was 2 for 3 with three RBIs to lead the Vikings in Game 1 at the plate, while Wabasso High School grad and freshman Avery Carlson was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Bryn Weidner was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Kaija Mork was 2 for 4 with four RBIs and a triple.

Chloe Berg doubled to lead the Knights, whose only other hit in the game from starting pitcher Jess Horn.

Meyer got the win in the circle in four innings, allowing two hits and no walks for one earned run while fanning nine. Minnesota Valley Lutheran grad and sophomore Becca Kuck pitched an inning in relief, striking out two.

Horn took the loss in three innings, allowing 11 hits and no walks for 11 runs, three earned. She was relieved by Ava Schroeder, who pitched two innings and allowed two hits and five walks for four earned runs.

The Vikings got to the Knights early in the second, scoring eight unearned runs after an early error in the inning. Emily Doyle highlighted the inning with a two-run triple to make it 7-0.

The Vikings went up 11-0 in the third after Carlson had her second RBI single of the day.

Orla Keys singled in a run in the fourth for a 12-0 Vikings lead. MLC got its lone run in the bottom of the fourth when Schroeder scored on a wild pitch by Kuck. BLC got a three-run triple to right by Mork in the fifth to make it 15-1. Berg got her double in the fifth and Rachel McCaughna reached after being hit by a pitch with one out, but the Vikings got back-to-back outs to end the game early.

GAME 2

BLC continued to keep its bats swinging right out of the gate in Game 2, getting a 1-0 lead in the first after a Mork RBI triple. Mork also pitched and got the win in three innings, allowing three hits and a walk for one earned run while striking out one.

Kuck again pitched in relief in Game 2 and allowed a run on a wild pitch in two innings. She also gave up one hit and two walks while striking out two.

Horn took the loss for MLC in five innings, allowing 18 earned runs on 21 hits and two walks. Schroeder pitched in relief again in the third but didn’t record an out as she hit two batters and walked two for four earned runs before Horn took the circle again.

Doyle was 3 for 3 with three RBIs, a double and four runs scored to lead BLC at the plate in Game 2, while Jolyne LeClair was 3 for 3 with two RBIs and Carly Nelson was 3 for 5 with three RBIs.

Chloe Berg tripled to lead the Knights, who got their three other hits in the game on singles from Anna Busch, Emma Frey and Kierah Schultz.

BLC went up 8-0 in the second after a seven-run inning that saw four consecutive singles from LeClair, Carly Nelson, Anna Lee and Emily Nelson. Carly Nelson’s single scored LeClair, while Emily Nelson’s scored Lee, a 2022 New Ulm High School grad, and Carly Nelson. After a groundout, Carlson doubled to left to bring home Emily Nelson and make it 5-0. Doyle and Carly Nelson added an RBI single each after that for an 8-0 Vikings lead.

Berg tripled to right-center to open the bottom of the second and then scored on a wild pitch to make it an 8-1 game.

The Vikings broke the game open further in the third with five hits and an error for 10 runs and a 19-1 lead. LeClair and Weidner each had a two-run single to highlight the inning for the Vikings.

The Vikings went up 21-1 in the fourth after an RBI double from Addie Ahern and an RBI single from Weidner. The Knights got one run back in the bottom of the inning after Busch singled and later scored on a wild pitch.

Hayven Linn doubled in a pair of runs in the fifth for the final score, moving BLC to 13-8 overall and 3-0 in the UMAC.

The Knights dropped to 0-13 and 0-3 in the UMAC with the loss and host UW-Superior for a 3:30 p.m. UMAC game Friday.