ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – It was a good day for the casual softball fan, but it was an even better day for the No. 12th ranked Bethel University softball team who advances the 2022 NCAA Division III Super Regionals after defeating Washington University in St. Louis twice in the St. Paul regional finals.
A marathon game one saw the Royals keep their postseason run alive defeating the Bears 4-3 in 15 innings before
Autumn Earney's walk-off single in the seventh of game two scored pinch-runner
Jordyn Rudolph for the 6-5 victory.
Now 37-5 on the year, the historic season continues as the Royals travel to Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga. for the best-of-three Super Regional series. Game one will be on Friday, May 20 at 1 p.m central time. Game two will be Saturday at Noon central time with the if necessary game three to be played right after.
Kayla Simacek was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional having pitched all 42 innings of the weekend where she went 4-1, struck out 42 and gave up two walks. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team was
Lexi DeBace,
Kayla Hokanson and Earney.
Game 1 | #12 Bethel 4, WashU 3 // 15 innings
Three and a half hours of entertaining softball saw the Royals force the decisive game seven as Girard's sacrifice fly to center in the top of the 15th brough in
Izzy Wilhelm as the go-ahead and eventual game winning run.
Fans didn't have to wait long for exciting action as the Royals, playing as the visitors, put DeBace in scoring position with a bunt single followed by her 29th stolen base of the year. With two outs,
Kayla Hokanson roped the first pitch she saw into center scoring DeBace in the first. Things looked positive on paper where BU entered the day 31-0 when scoring first.
WashU in the home half of the inning loaded them up with one out on double, a BU error and a single. No panic though from Simacek who ended the threat with back-to-back strikeouts.
The Bears took the lead in the fourth with a two-RBI shot in the right-center gap before going up 3-1 in the fifth.
BU chipped away at the deficit in the sixth as Fauth doubled and DeBace singled and stole another bag.
Mikaela Girard laid one down scoring Fauth before
Kayla Hokanson singled to right brining in the tying run.
It was zeros the rest of the way as
Kayla Simacek kept WashU in check. She worked out of a jam in the 13th forcing the Bears to leave them loaded. She started the 15th with her eighth K of the game before capping out the 199-pitch effort with pair of flyouts.
Game 2 | #12 Bethel 6, WashU 5
Bethel put up three unanswered in its final two at bats after giving up a 3-1 lead in the sixth where WashU plated four runs on six hits.
Cortney Hokanson's timely hitting pulled BU within 5-4 scoring pinch runner
Hailey Rismeyer who rank for K. Hokanson after she reached on an error.
Simacek worked out of a jam in the seventh where a pair of Bears were stranded on base leaving the dramatic ending in Bethel's hands in the seventh.
A single by Wilhelm turned the lineup over where Fauth laid down a sacrifice bunt. DeBace sent a grounder to short where WashU caught Wilhelm off the bag at second getting the second out with DeBace at first.
The strong eye of
Mikaela Girard drew a five pitch walk setting up
Kayla Hokanson who's clutch hitting once again tied it with a single down the left field line.
It only took two pitches for the freshman Earney to provide the heroic efforts finding the gap in right that allowed enough time for Rudolph to score from second without a throw from the WashU outfield.
Both teams scored in the opening frame before BU took a two run lead with a sacrifice fly from Wilhelm in the second and a RBI single from DeBace in the fifth.
The Bears, as they had all weekend long, didn't back down sending all nine hitters to the plate in the sixth putting up a four spot taking back the lead 5-3.
Simacek gave BU a fighting change stranding two Bears in the top of the seventh. She finished with two strikeouts, but produced 14 flyouts and five groundouts on 98 pitches.
