By Laura Christopher
Lindsborg News-Record

The Bethany College baseball team continued their season this past week by traveling to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) on Monday, February 14.

USAO grabbed an early 3-0 lead, and added another two runs in the fifth before the Swedes posted a two-run seventh-inning. However, it was too little too late for Bethany as they fell 5-2.

Evan Erickson and Logan Kanamu each had two hits for Bethany as Reynaldo Garcia added one.

Will Phillips got the start for the Swedes, throwing five innings and giving up five runs with two strikeouts. Steven Fyler came in as relief.

USAO found their bats as Bethany struggled to find offense of their own. The Swedes went on to lose 11-0.

Josh Weninger, Ben Gass, and Nick Lucchesi had the lone hits for the Swedes. Jacob Arroyo started for Bethany, allowing seven earned runs. Montana Prim and Erik Allen both pitched as relief.

Bethany hosted Peru State College on Friday, February 18.

After jumping out to a 7-1 lead, the Swedes used a four-run fifth inning combined with another four runs in the seventh to grab a 9-8 win over Peru State.

Garcia totaled three hits for Bethany as Weninger added two. Weninger had four RBIs on the day as Matt Gabrielson added two. Garcia, Evan Bloem, and Gass contributed one RBI each.

Kris Boele started for Bethany, throwing five innings and allowing seven earned runs. Allen and Raul Gonzales threw as relief.

The two teams faced off again in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader.

Peru State opened the game with two runs in the first and another two in the second. Bethany answered back in the bottom of the second, but Peru State tacked on two more in the third and another in the fourth, handing the Swedes a 7-2 loss.

Bethany found their resilience, grabbing an 8-1 victory in game two. Bloem and Mike Yingling totaled two hits each as Erickson, Webster, Garcia, Kanamu, and Gabrielson all had one.

The Swedes are now 2-7 overall. Bethany travels to Pittsburg State University on Wednesday, February 23 before hosting Concordia University (Seward, Neb.) for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, February 26-27. Games begin at 12 p.m. both days.