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Coon Rapids, Minn. – A big comeback in game one was wasted as the Minnesota Morris baseball team fell 10-8 in eight innings today (Apr. 9), before host North Central carried the momentum to a 9-3 win in game two in sweeping a doubleheader this afternoon.
Jake Johnson gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th to suffer his fourth loss of the season in the first game, unfortunately overshadowing a comeback that saw Morris (3-16) erase a six-run deficit. North Central (11-15) surged out to a 6-0 lead over the first two innings before the Cougars began to comeback.
The Cougars started the comeback with a four-run fourth, banging out five hits in the inning. Three straight hits to open the inning started the rally with
Kyle Grote,
Eric Terres and
Mike McGill all logging an RBI.
In the third,
William Paine took the mound in relief, and promptly slowed the Ram offense, allowing just one harmless walk. Paine went on to pitch a scoreless fourth and the Cougars fully erased the lead with two more runs in the fifth. Then in the sixth, they took their first lead since their win over Crown on Mar. 31 with
Dustin Sauter's first home run of the season, a two-run blast that also scored
Nick Perrotte.
Unfortunately, the lead wouldn't hold as the Rams put together a two-out rally in the seventh to tie the game and force the eighth inning. The Cougars went down in order in the eighth, setting up the dramatic win for the Rams.
In the second, the Cougars jumped out early with a run in the top of the first, but couldn't sustain it with the Rams coming back for all nine of their runs over the first three innings.
With single runs in each the fifth and sixth, the Cougars closed the gap, but couldn't overcome the 16 hits the Rams pounded out.
The Cougars finished with nine hits in game two, coming after a season high 14 in the day's first game. It marked just the second time all season they've finished with double-digit hits, and their 23 over the two games makes it the best two game stretch of the season.
Johnson and
Kylan Hill took the losses on the day, while the offense was led with Perrotte's five hits, and Terres' four. Perrotte and Sauter each also scored three runs over the two games to lead the team.
The Cougars will return to UMAC play tomorrow (Apr. 10), hosing Presentation in a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader at Cougar Field.
