MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team started off the 2021 season at U.S. Bank Stadium, facing the University of Wisconsin-Superior in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday morning. In a pair of pitching-dominated, seven-inning games, the Yellow Jackets produced just enough offense to come away with 2-1 and 4-3 wins.

The Cougars head back to U.S. Bank Stadium on March 19, taking on Lawrence University in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

Game One: UW-Superior 2, Minnesota Morris 1
UW-Superior mustered all the offense it would need in the first inning of the morning's first game. The first two Yellow Jacket hitters reached on a single and double against Brian Vanyo (0-1) and an error allowed both to race home for a 2-0 lead before Vanyo worked his way out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts later in the inning.

The Cougars had six stranded runners in the first four innings before finally breaking through with a run in the fifth. Tyler Carper and Julien Shadle had two-out singles, leading to a walk from Evan Benson to load the bases and an error from the UW-Superior defense that brought Carper home. 

The bases were left loaded for UMN Morris in the fifth. In the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars had Lucas Athey and Benson on base with two outs before the Yellow Jackets were able to close it out.

Vanyo settled in after his tough first inning and allowed just four hits over 4.0 innings. Cole Mammenga had three strikeouts and gave up no hits in 2.0 innings of relief. Carper threw the final inning, giving up no hits and striking out two.

Game Two: UW-Superior 4, Minnesota Morris 3
Minnesota Morris struck first in the second game of the day, but UW-Superior rallied past the Cougars with a pair of two-run innings and UMN Morris could not come all the way back.

The scoring started in the top of the first with consecutive one-out doubles from Joe Pelle and Carper to make it 1-0. A lead-off walk and a double from UW-Superior in the bottom of the second knotted the score at 1-1 and another run was added later in the inning on a wild pitch.

Carper tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the third, getting hit by a pitch with two down, moving to second on a Shadle single, and then coming around to score on an error from the Yellow Jackets. The tie lasted only until UW-Superior's next turn at the dish as a double from Ryan Castenada drove in Brandon Rolf and Bryce Flanagan.

The Cougars made one last push in the top of the sixth. Blake Haugen drew a two-out walk, stole second, then raced home on a single from Michael Nezerka. After UW-Superior got out of the inning, the Cougars went down in order in the top of the seventh to close the game out.

Nathen Carlin fell to 0-1, giving up four runs in 4.0 innings while striking out eight. Colin Lindgren threw 2.0 innings of relief, allowing a single hit and striking out one.