COLLEGEVILLE, Minn.– The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team outslugged UW-Superior to the tune of 10-9 and 11-10 victories on Friday on the campus of Saint John’s University. The sweep from the Cougars lifts their record to 11-12 (6-2 UMAC) on the season.

Minnesota Morris and UW-Superior are slated to complete their three-game set tomorrow at 4 p.m. on the campus of the University of Northwestern.

Game One: Minnesota Morris 10, UW-Superior 9
An amazing sequence of events in the bottom of the ninth inning led to a three-run inning and a walk-off sacrifice fly from Keegan Jonas. Parker Gilchrist (1-3) picked up his first collegiate victory, throwing the final 1.2 innings and keeping UW-Superior off the board.

The first of many runs on the day started in the top of the first inning as UW-Superior was able to score a pair of unearned runs on starting pitcher Josh Osten and grab the early lead. Minnesota Morris answered back with a run in the bottom of the second as Ethan Schmitz kept the inning alive with two down and was then doubled home by Alex Goedhard.

The Cougars played long ball in the bottom of the third. David Steffen led off with a solo homer down the left-field line to knot the score up and Ben Meuser later added a two-run bomb that brought Tyler Scheler in to make it 4-2.

Seth Trimble connected on a home run of his own in the top of the fifth to bring UW-Superior back within a run and Osten then ran into trouble in the top of the sixth. A lead-off single and a walk put two aboard and the Yellowjackets then reeled off three straight hits, scoring on each of them and taking a 6-4 edge. UW-Superior tacked on another run in the top of the seventh against reliever Ryan Wilhelm to go up by three.

The game took one of its many late twists in the bottom of the seventh as Riley Harbaugh entered in relief of UW-Superior starter Ryan Rodriguez. Tyler Scheler homered off of Harbaugh to make it 7-6, driving in Alex Baumann. Later in the frame, Schmitz tripled to deep center to score Meuser and knot the game at 7-7.

The Yellowjackets regrouped and scored two runs with two down in the top of the eighth to go back on top, 9-7. The Cougars then were unable to muster much in the bottom of the eighth, though the defense got off the field quickly in the top of the ninth thanks to an inning-ending double play.

Down to their final three outs, the Cougar offense came up clutch. Scheler led off with a single, though he was later called out at second on a debated call in which the UW-Superior shortstop dropped the ball on the force. Initially called safe, the call was reversed on the UW-Superior challenge, putting one out on the board. Meuser came up to the plate next and singled to put two runners aboard, ending the day for Harbaugh and sending the Yellowjackets back to their pen. Aiden Pfeifer was in next, but his outing lasted all of one batter as Schmitz smoked a ball to the wall in right, with Payton Steiner bursting through a gate in an attempt to get the out. With the ball still live, Ty Beasley and Meuser raced around the bases to tie the score and Schmitz made it to third. Max Howell came in next trying to preserve the tie and send the game to extras, but with the defense drawn in, Jonas hit a ball to center field and Schmitz had plenty of time to sprint home for the game-winning run.

Osten went 5.1 innings and allowed five hits and six runs (four earned) while striking out three in the no-decision. Steffen, Scheler, Beasley, Meuser, and Goedhard all added two hits apiece.

The offense was led by a 4-for-5 game from Schmitz, which included three RBIs and two runs scored.

Game Two: Minnesota Morris 11, UW-Superior 10
The Cougars were undeterred by a first-inning grand slam from Christian Garcia, rallying from a 4-0 hole to score 10 unanswered runs before holding on late.

Brian Vanyo (2-1) ultimately earned the win, but the senior had a rough start with a double and two walks leading to a grand slam for Garcia and a 4-0 lead for the Yellowjackets. After a mound visit from Head Coach Matt O’Brien, Vanyo settled in and ultimately recorded 12 straight outs.

The Minnesota Morris comeback wasn’t immediate, but the Cougars did get on the board in the bottom of the second inning with Schmitz hitting a double to bring home Meuser and make it 4-1. An error from the Cougar defense led to UW-Superior going back up by four, 5-1, in the top of the fifth but the game turned on its head in the bottom of the inning.

Schmitz led off the fifth for Minnesota Morris was smashing a home run to right field to make it 5-2. After Jonas drew a walk, Goedhard connected on his first collegiate homer to bring the Cougars back within a single run at 5-4. The parade of UMN Morris batters wasn’t close to finished. Singles from Evan Benson and Steffen followed. After both runners moved up on a wild pitch, Baumann doubled them both home to give Minnesota Morris a 6-5 lead.

That was the end of the day for Yellowjacket starter Ben Welle, but Minnesota Morris continued with two more base hits to run it to eight consecutive batters reaching base. Scheler’s single in that stretch drove in Baumann to increase the lead to 7-5 and Schmitz, back at the plate for his second at-bat of the inning, singled Scheler in to make it 8-5.

In the bottom of the sixth, Scheler added another RBI with a two-out single that scored Benson. One inning later, Meuser led off with a single and was followed by a triple from Schmitz that completed the cycle and scored Meuser for a 10-5 advantage. A Jonas single off new reliever Owen Santiago brought Schmitz in for an 11-5 lead.

Things would tighten up down the stretch. Vanyo completed seven innings of work and made way for the Cougar bullpen. Elias Harrington got through the eighth but gave up four hits and a pair of runs before stranding two runners. That left the score at 11-7 and things got scarier in the top of the ninth as UW-Superior had hits from four of its first five hitters in the inning to make it 11-9 and bring the go-ahead run to the plate.

At that point, Minnesota Morris switched up its defense and brought in Baumann to close it out. After playing shortstop all day, Baumann quickly got the second out by snaring a ground ball back to the mound and getting the force out at second base, though a run scored from third on the play. With the Yellowjackets now down to their final out, Baumann brought the heat and struck out Cole Ondrus to end the game and get the save.

After the rough first inning, Vanyo settled in and gave up only six hits over 7.0 innings of work while striking out a pair.

Schmitz was 4-for-5 once again to finish 8-for-10 at the plate on the day. He added four RBIs to his total and scored a pair of runs. Steffen, Scheler, Meuser, and Benson all had two-hit games.

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