MORRIS, Minn. – It all came down to Saturday but Minnesota Morris (15-23, 8-8 UMAC) came through in the clutch to earn a spot in the 2016 UMAC Tournament. A 9-8 walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth over Northland (17-23, 8-8 UMAC) in game one secured the Cougars first postseason berth since 2007. Morris dropped game two 2-1.
The Cougars looked poised to knock out the Lumberjacks early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Jackson Gessell,
Evan Ellingworth,
Trent Johnson all had RBI hits in the inning. Northland would not make it easy, answering with four runs in the top of the second.
Northland took a two run lead with a pair of runs in the third inning. The Cougars got a run back on RBI single by
Donnie Mavencamp. The Lumberjacks got that run back in the top of the fifth inning.
After the Lumberjacks added to their lead with a run in the top of the seventh; Morris rallied back in the bottom of the inning.
Willie Fust singled home Ellingworth and then
Zach Kuefler doubled home pinch runner
Chuck Menne.
Minnesota Morris looked like they might have to wait for game two to clinch a spot after two quick outs. Johnson singled to start the rally and moved to second after Kuefler walked. Johnson scored on a single by
Ryan Wynn up the middle. With runners on second and third the Lumberjacks attempted to intentionally walk
Chandler Erickson to load the bases. The count was 3-0 when the ball came too close to the plate and Erickson flipped the ball to center giving Morris the walk-off victory.
Tyler Hannan was lights out for Morris on the mound, pitching 5.2 innings of relief and giving up just one earned run while striking out seven.
Thomas Eckstein earned the win pitching the ninth inning in relief.
The fourth place finish is the highest in the regular season as members of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
The second game of the day was a pitcher's duel with the score tied at zero through three innings. Northland struck first, scoring a run in the top of the fourth inning. It took some time but UMM tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Mavencamp drove in Gessell with a double off the wall in left center.
The Lumberjacks countered and took the lead back in the top of the seventh. NC would take a 2-1 lead but it could have been bigger had
Samuel Palmatier not struck out a batter with the bases loaded.
In the ninth inning Morris put the first two runners on base but a fly out double play ended the threat and the game.
On Thursday the Cougars will play St. Scholastica at 1 p.m. in the UMAC Tournament.
