UMAC Game of the Week: Bethany Lutheran vs. Northland- Softball
UMAC Game of the Week Archives
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
The week's UMAC Game of the Week will take place on Friday, April 12 as the Bethany Lutheran and Northland softball teams will face off in conference action. Due to weather conditions the game has been moved indoors to the Irish Sports Dome in Rosemount, Minn. with a 8:30 p.m. start time.
About the Vikings
Bethany is off to a perfect 3-0 start in UMAC play and the pitching of Nicole Starkson and Shannon Heitz has a lot to do with it. Both have earned UMAC Pitcher of the Week honors this season with Heitz winning the award last week for tossing a no-hitter against Martin Luther and followed that up with a one-hit shutout of Crown. Starkson leads the conference in ERA (2.18), tied for the lead in wins (6), and is second in strikeouts (74) which includes a 15-K performance against Martin Luther.
Not only is Starkson stellar on the mound, but is amongst the leaders in many hitting categories as well: first in RBIs (17), tied for first in home runs (3), and fifth in batting average (.419). She has helped lead the Vikings to a .273 team batting average which is second in the conference behind Martin Luther.
About the LumberJills
Northland comes into the game with a 1-1 record in the UMAC having split a doubleheader with Northwestern last Sunday. Seniors Erin Roembke and Sam Bona lead the LumberJills in batting average hitting .360 and .351 respectively. Sophomore Jayna Loy leads the team in extra base hits with seven.
Loy has started every game in the circle for the Jills this season and was named UMAC Pitcher of the Week earlier this season. The Jills are eager to continue the conference portion of their schedule.
Game notes
- The Vikings are 6-3 in their last nine meetings against Northland
- In 2012 the teams met three times with LumberJills earing the win in two of the three meetings.
Bethany Lutheran recap |
Northland recap |
#UMACgotw Final Scores: BLC 5, NC 0; BLC 7, NC 5
For information on other contests around the league this week, visit the UMAC
live scoreboard.