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UMM 9, Crown 0
UMM 7, NWC 7
CSS 9, UMM 2

Mankato, Minn. – Playing three games today (Apr. 29) at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Crossover, the Minnesota Morris softball team went 2-1 to set a single season program wins record, as well as lock op the second seed in the upcoming conference Tournament.

Morris opened their day with a 9-0 win over Crown (0-28, 0-17 UMAC), and followed it up with a 7-4 victory over Northwestern (17-17, 12-7 UMAC). In the night cap against league-leader St. Scholastica (22-11, 17-1 UMAC), Morris fell 9-2.

At the end of the day Cougars sit at 17-16 overall, with a 14-6 mark in the UMAC. The 17 wins break the record of 16 set just last season, while also giving the Cougars their first ever stretch of three consecutive seasons with double-digit wins.

With just one regular season game left to go, the UMAC tournament match-ups are set, and No. 2 Morris will open the tourney against No. 3 Northwestern at 10:00 a.m. on May 6. The four-team double-elimination tournament will be played in Duluth this Friday and Saturday (May 6 & 7).

Emily Mehr (Aitkin, Minn.) opened the day for the Cougars in the circle, and threw a one-hit shutout before the game was ended after five innings. She struck out four and walked none as the Cougars cruised.  Just the third start for the usual first baseman, she charted a season low in hits and a season high in strikeouts.

Against Northwestern, Kaitlyn Randall (Concord, Calif.) toed the rubber and pitched all seven innings for her 10th win of the season, allowing just six hits while just missing a career high in strikeouts with 13. The freshman ace pitched a perfect first and second and allowed just two Eagle hits through the first four innings.

In the final game of the day against St. Scholastica, Kelli Hamilton (Delano, Minn.) took the ball and went 5.2 innings before the eventual 2011 UMAC Champions got to her for nine runs on 10 hits. Hamilton suffers the loss and drops to5-7 on the season.

Against Crown, a six-run first set the tone of the day for the Cougars, while it was a six run fourth that put the game away against Northwestern. St. Scholastica then got four runs in the second and two more in the sixth to take game three from Morris.

Diane Blommel (Grey Eagle, Minn.) continued to lead the way at the plate hitting safely in each game and finishing with five on the day. Her season average is now at .485 as she logged her 50th hit of the year against the Saints.

Ally Obernolte (St. Paul, Minn.) was the only other player to notch at least one hit in each game, and finished with three on the day.

Blommel also had a team high five runs, as she was the only player to cross the plate in each game.

Laura Lhotka (Wauban, Minn.) had two hits against Crown, her highest since the spring trip, while also adding a run and a RBI.

The Cougars will finish the crossover on Apr. 30 with just a single game against Northland at 12:00 p.m.