DULUTH, Minn. — Crown's softball team played in the opening game of the UMAC Playoffs on Thursday and bested #5 seed Bethany Lutheran 3-2. Junior pitcher Lis King excelled on the mound, allowing only five hits in a seven-inning complete game, striking out six batters in the process. 

Crown scored all three of their runs in the first two innings, with Olivia Dols scoring Cassidy Valenzuela on an error by the Bethany Lutheran shortstop in the first inning, and Lottie Ellis scoring Dols on the next at-bat with a single. In the second inning, Marissa Carter hit in Kailee Leathers in, who reached on a double in the opening at-bat of the bottom half of the inning. Crown allowed three zero-out hits in the last three innings of the game, and while in the sixth inning it resulted in two runs, those were the only two runs for the Vikings, as Crown won 3-2. In the bottom of the seventh, great fielding by the Storm defense caught Morgan Mashlan attempting to advance to third on a bunt attempt for a double play and to remove the threat from the bases. 

Bethany split with Crown on Monday, and the rematch went relatively as expected, as senior Viking pitcher Anna Pippenhagen once again allowed three runs, and King once again allowed two. 

Crown moves on to face St. Scholastica today at 2 pm. St. Scholastica swept Crown on Sunday, though Crown ended the second game with a ferocious comeback to tie up the game in the seventh. Crown has guaranteed at least one game on Day 2 of the UMAC tournament, even in the case they fall to the Saints in game two.