SAINT JOSEPH, Minn. – Saturday, the Yellowjacket softball team and Bethany Lutheran played a three-hour, fifteen-minute marathon in the winner's bracket of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) tournament. Bethany Lutheran, despite committing seven errors, won the game in 10 innings, putting the Yellowjackets into must-win mode.
 
The Yellowjackets finished Saturday with a win over Northwestern, setting up a showdown with Bethany Lutheran where the Yellowjackets would have to beat the Vikings not once, but twice to move claim the 2023 UMAC championship.
 
Sunday, the Yellowjackets and Vikings did indeed play twice, and the two games combined didn't last as long as the single game Saturday.
 
After winning the first game 3-0, the Yellowjackets were locked in a scoreless battle in the second game when pinch hitter Izzy Lingle (Enumclaw, Wash./Enumclaw) hit a walk-off single to right, scoring pinch runner Camille Wikstrom (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) to give the 'Jackets the 1-0 win, the Sunday sweep of Bethany Lutheran, and the 2023 UMAC championship.
 
More importantly, the Yellowjackets will receive the UMAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament.
 
It's the second time in three seasons under head coach Melissa Fracker that the Yellowjackets have advanced to the NCAA tournament.

Game One
The Yellowjackets got things going quickly in the first game Sunday, scoring twice in the top of the first inning.
 
Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) led off with a walk and two hitters later came home when Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) unloaded, hitting a long home run to left center to make it 2-0 Yellowjackets.
 
The Yellowjackets extended the lead in the top of the third, and again Macal got things started with a walk. This time the Yellowjackets loaded the bases behind her, and Jenna Hoops (Woodbury, Minn./Visitation School) brought Macal home on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

From there it was all about defense and the pitching of Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights), who would go on to be named UMAC Tournament MVP. Kraemer kept the Vikings at bay, not allowing a hit until the fourth inning, and only surrendering three in the game. She had command of the strike zone, not allowing a walk and striking out two.
 
Thomson led the way at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a run scored and two runs batted in.
 
Game Two
With the win in the first game, the bracket flipped and the Yellowjackets became the home team. What didn't change, however, was the presence of dominant pitching.
 
Kraemer picked up right where she left off, not allowing a hit until the third inning. Bethany Lutheran's Kayla Senne was equally as dominant, matching Kraemer frame for scoreless frame.
 
Through three innings, each team mustered just one hit.
 
With the game still scoreless in the seventh, Bethany Lutheran put together its biggest threat of the game. The Vikings put two runners on base, but Kraemer worked out of it to bring the Yellowjackets to the plate with the chance to win.
 
Hoops led off with a walk, and Fracker went to the bench to have Wikstrom pinch run. Wikstrom moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Then, with two outs, Fracker summoned Lingle from the bench, and the sophomore belted the ball to right field for a base hit, bringing home Wikstrom and sending the Yellowjackets to the NCAA tournament.
 
Kraemer was the story once again, going the distance in the circle, allowing just two hits on the way to earning her 20th win of the year. She walked two and struck out four.
 
In addition to Lingle, Kraemer, Thomson and Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) had hits for the Yellowjackets.
 
The Yellowjackets will now advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history. The NCAA will hold its selection show Monday and then the Yellowjackets will know where and when they will play and who their opponent in the first round of the tournament will be.
 
Stay tuned to uwsyellowjackets.com for updates.