Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

University of Minnesota Morris Athletics

Official Athletics Website of The University of Minnesota Morris
Kristy Hoge, Mariah Essig, Molly Olson v. Presentation, 4/18/12

Softball

Softball Moves On In Tournament

Softball Moves On In Tournament

The Cougars earned their first ever UMAC Tournament win in their second game of the day.
Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

| Follow the Cougars on Twitter | Send Cougar updates to my email | Get Text Updates |

| NWC 3, UMM 0 | UMM 17, NC 9 | Season Stats | Tournament Site |

Duluth, Minn. – The Minnesota Morris softball will move on to championship Saturday in the 2012 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference softball tournament, following their win over Northland today (May 4).

Morris (18-18) opened the day with a 3-0 setback to Northwestern (19-22), falling into the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament. In their second game, though, the Cougars opened up the offense in a 17-9, six-inning win over Northland (18-23), moving on to tomorrow, while sending the LumberJills home.

The win over Northland was the first ever UMAC Tournament win for the Cougars, since joining the conference in 2004.

The offense got going early and often, scoring twice in the first inning, before blowing the game open with five in the third. A homerun by Mercedes Klimek started the rally, followed by an RBI triple from Kelli Hamilton and RBI singles form Natasha Wiebold and Jordan Iverson.

The Jills got four back the next half-inning, but the Cougars answered right back with five more in the fourth, taking a 13-7 lead, on their way to the win. Up 15-9 heading into the bottom of the sixth, a two-RBI double from Klimek put the Cougars up by eight and ended the game.

The win is the 18th of the season for the Cougars, tying the record for wins in a season set just last year. Hamilton started and went 3.1 innings to earn her seventh win of the year, while Mariah Essig threw the final 2.2 to get the save.

The Cougars opened the day with a rough loss to Northwestern, with the Eagles taking the games first lead with a lone run in the fifth. They held the Cougars to just five hits, while adding two more in the seventh for the win.

Of those eight hits, two came from Molly Olson, who also collected one against Northland to extend her hitting streak to 27-straight games.

Iverson and Klimek led the offense on the day with four hits each, while Heather Brown joined Olson with three hits, including two doubles. Despite the loss in game one, Essig pitched 9.2 innings on the day, while fanning 10, moving her season total over the 100 mark with 102 in her freshman campaign.

The Cougars will get their second chance at Northwestern in the opening game tomorrow, as the two each went 1-1 on the day, and will square off in an elimination game for the chance to play top-seeded St. Scholastica. They will have their work cut out for them, though, as they must beat the Saints twice to claim the UMAC Tournament crown.

It all starts with Northwestern, at 10:00 a.m., back at Kenwood Field.
Print Friendly Version