After Bethany dominated Saint Mary 23-3 in Friday's meeting between two teams, Saint Mary scored ten runs in the first inning off of three different Bethany pitchers to take a 10-2 lead after one inning. It was Bethany who played spoiler, shutting out the Spires after the third inning and rallying for a hard fought 16-13 win on Saturday afternoon at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina .

Harold Holbert led off the first for Bethany with a double and after a strike out, designated hitter Danny Fernandez hit the first of his two home runs on the day, a mammoth shot to right field, riding the strong west wind that had plagued pitching units the past two days.

After two ground outs to end the half inning, Saint Mary sent 14 batters to the plate in the first while scoring ten runs on just seven hits as the Spires jumped out to a 10-2 lead after one inning.

Glen Aveson struck out looking to open the frame, but Dustin Smith followed with a single and scored when Brandon Flood singled after two walks loaded the bases. Another single, this time from Stephen Maurin scored another run and chased Bethany starter Chris Atkins from the mound. Reliever Alex Molander then walked Ryan Reed scoring Reynolds. Lucas Williamson then laid down a perfect squeeze bunt that brought home Flood. Matt Parmalee followed with a single, followed by a single by Aveson on his second at bat of the inning to score Reed and Parmalee. Smith walked and Newman followed with a three run homer to make it 10-2 Spires .

Bethany appeared to be bringing in Orvil Aviles to pitch, but he quickly exited the mound after throwing one warm-up pitch, yielding to Rodney McFarlane who would finish off the first.

Bethany cut into the Saint Mary lead in the second with five runs. After a lead off ground out by Craig Barnes, Andrew Ferguson reached on a hit and later scored when Eric Lehner singled. Holbert singled to score Cody Rierson, who was courtesy running for Joel Sundquist, and after Hop Sullivan flew out, Fernandez hit his second bomb in as many at bats, this time a three-run shot to cut the lead to 10-7.

Maurin led off the Saint Mary second with a double and later scored on a Williamson hit.

Bethany got one more in their half of the third when Sundquist launched a ball out to center with two outs.

Saint Mary got two in the third when Newman followed Smith's lead off single with a long ball to right.

Casey Getzelman led off the Bethany fifth with a double and scored the first of four Swede runs in the frame on a hit by Barnes. Holbert would later single, scoring Barnes, and Rierson would score when Parmalee would misplay the ball in right. Sullivan would then hit to left scoring Holbert before Fernandez grounded out to second to end the inning.

Josh Barnes entered the lineup on the hill for Saint Mary in the sixth and gave up a lone run on an RBI single from Craig Barnes.

The Swedes completed the rally in the seventh with a pair of runs to take a 14-13 lead. Sundquist led off the inning with a single, and Holbert singled to move courtesy runner Rierson to third and Parmalee's throw in was wild, but Rierson was injured of his way around third on the hit and was held at third. Sundquist came back out to run and scored on Sullivan's hit to right. Fernandez then hit into a fielder's choice to score Holbert before Justin Long grounded out to end the rally.

Bethany (36-14) got a little insurance in the eighth when Getzelman scored after leading off the inning with a hit on a ball off the bat of Ferguson .

Saint Mary (24-23) could never mount a rally, and were shut out after the first three innings.

McFarlane picked up the win for the Swedes, pitching six innings, giving up three runs on ten hits and striking out one. Atkins only managed to record one out in the first, giving up five runs on three hits, and Molander suffered the same fate in the first, pitching only one third of an inning, giving up five runs on three hits. Dustin Vaughn came in to finish the game, pitching two and a third innings of no-hit ball, striking out one.

Bethany pounded out 20 hits on the day led by Holbert, who was 4-for-6, while Sullivan was 3-for-6 and Sundquist was 3-for-5. Fernandez was 2-for-6, but hit two huge homers for the Swedes while racking up six RBIs on the day.

Josh Barnes took the loss for Saint Mary, giving up three runs on four hits in two innings. Tim Martin started the game, going five innings, giving up 12 runs on 14 hits and striking out four. Zane Merritt pitched the final two innings, giving up one run on two hits.

Bethany joins Kansas Wesleyan and Friends as the three teams representing the KCAC in next week's NAIA Region IV Tournament, hosted by the KCAC, beginning on Wednesday in Hutchinson . Seeds, teams and first-round pairings will be released on Sunday.