St. Bonifacius, Minn. — Crown split with Bethany Lutheran on Monday afternoon, as top UMAC pitchers Lis King (Crown) and Anna Pippenhagen (BLC) both picked up wins. By splitting with the Vikings, they are lined up to face each other again on Tuesday in the first round of the UMAC Playoffs up north at St. Scholastica. Likely, both winning pitchers will face off in that game.

Crown won game one behind the incredible pitching performance of Lis King, who only allowed three hits in the game and retired the first ten straight batters. However, after Kirby Shetler mentioned the word "no-hitter," she allowed a hit. King struck out seven and only allowed one earned run, two total runs. Crown scored in the first on an Olivia Dols single that scored Cassidy Valenzuela. In the second, Samantha Collins scored on a wild pitch, and Kailee Leathers scored on another error by Bethany. In the third, yet another wild pitch scored Lottie Ellis, and an Amanda Morrison single scored Laryssa Vik. BLC's two runs came in the latter half of the game but never could accumulate to challenge Crown's lead. King won her ninth match of the season and Crown's UMAC wins reached double digits. 

In game two, Crown wasn't as effective, only scoring three times. The Storm did score first on a Valenzuela groundout in the first, scoring Marissa Carter. In the fifth, Crown added another run on King's deep double that scored Valenzuela. In the seventh, a Valenzuela single scored Demi Brezina, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning. 

Crown plays again on Tuesday with a non-conference matchup with Augsburg as a last minute run-through for the UMAC Playoffs, starting Thursday in Duluth.