MOORHEAD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team dropped a pair of contests to Concordia College (MN) on Sunday by scores of 8-0 and 6-5. The Cougars drop to 4-10 overall on the season.
Next up is a trip to New Ulm, Minn. to face Martin Luther College in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.
Game One: Concordia (MN) 8, Minnesota Morris 0 (6 innings)
Facing Megan Gavin, the Cougar offense could get nothing going in the first game of the day. Gavin struck out 14 hitters and allowed just a two-out single from
Lydia Mann to keep her from a no-hitter.
On the other side, the Cobbers scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second, three more in the third inning and finally one more run in the sixth to invoke the mercy rule with an eight-run lead late in the game.
Abby Wothe (0-2) suffered the loss for the Cougars, while
Tori Nichols-Kraft worked three-plus innings of relief in the contest.
Game Two: Concordia (MN) 6, Minnesota Morris 5
The second game was much more competitive, but Minnesota Morris was unable to come all the way back from a four-run deficit midway through. Batting as the home team in the game, the Cougars went down in order in the bottom of the seventh with a chance to tie or win.
Concordia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, though it could have been worse. A double from Taylor Erholtz scored Riley Irmen, but Riley Bergstrom was tagged out trying to score from first on the play. With Mann and
Eleanore Steinhouse aboard in the bottom of the inning, a grounder from
Olivia Diver drove in Mann to tie it up at 1-1.
That would do it for the Minnesota Morris offense for awhile. The Cobbers scored two in the second inning, one in the third, and then one more on a lead-off solo home run in the fifth inning to take a 5-1 lead.
The Cougars got things rolling again in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded and two down,
Mollie Dummer singled in Steinhouse to make it 5-2. The next batter, Nichols-Kraft, singled to score Diver and
Brenna Mahoney to pull the Cougars within a run at 5-4.
Concordia added a run to its total in the sixth on a wild pitch, upping its lead to 6-4. The Cougars responded with a RBI single from
Autumn Theis in the bottom of the inning, scoring
Haley Wollschlager to pull within a run again. After stranding a Cobber runner on third in the top of the seventh, the Cougars couldn't come up with one last rally, going down in order and ending the game a run short.
Dummer (3-4) took the loss in the circle for Minnesota Morris, pitching 5.0 innings while striking out four. Theis pitched the final 2.0 innings and allowed one hit and one run.
