ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Cougars 8-1 win over Northwestern (19-16, 12-2 UMAC) in the first game on Wednesday sets up a golden opportunity to reach the UMAC Tournament in 2016. Minnesota Morris (14-22, 7-7 UMAC) fell 6-2 in the second game of the doubleheader with Northwestern.
 
Joey Hyde started for the Cougars in game one and did not allow an earned run through 5.1 innings. He struck out five and gave up seven hits. Samuel Palmatier and Tyler Hannan combined for 3.3 innings of scoreless relief.
 
Zach Kuefler picked up a sac fly to right field in the second inning to put the Cougars up one. It would stay 1-0 until the top of the fifth inning. Chandler Erickson ignited a four run rally in the top of the fifth with a RBI single to right, driving in Trent Johnson. Jackson Gessell delivered a RBI single to right center putting Morris up 3-0. Donnie Mavencamp had a two run single to center and extended the Morris lead to five. The Eagles would get a run back in the fifth but could not produce any more runs.
 
Mavencamp padded the Cougars lead in the seventh with a double to left center, driving in Erickson. It got ever larger when Willie Fust drove in both Gessell and Mavencamp with a single to left field.
 
Things were a little different in the second game of the day. Northwestern would score three early runs in the bottom of the first and held Morris scoreless for six innings. By the time the Cougars struck they were trailing 6-0.
 
In the seventh Bryce Jergenson tripled to right field, driving in Erickson. Gessell would drive in Jergenson with a sac fly cutting the deficit to four. Unfortunately the late inning rally ended there and Morris fell by four.
 
On Saturday the Cougars host Northland College in the final doubleheader of the regular season. Currently the two teams are tied with identical 7-7 records but Morris holds the tie breaker over the Lumberjacks because of the win over Northwestern this afternoon. One win on Saturday will get the Cougars into the UMAC Tournament. The doubleheader on Saturday begins at 1:30 p.m. at Cougar Prairie Field.