NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team began UMAC play on Thursday with a two-game sweep of Martin Luther College. The Cougars won the opener, 6-2, before going off in the second game for an 11-1 victory in seven innings. Those two wins up the UMN Morris to 4-8 (2-0 UMAC) on the season.

Conference play continues on April 17 for the Cougars with a trip to North Central University for two games starting at 1:30 p.m.

Game One: Minnesota Morris 6, Martin Luther 2
Nathen Carlin, Colin Lindgren, and Cole Mammenga combined on a three-hitter to lift the Cougars to the win in the opener on Thursday. Carlin went 6.0 innings and struck out nine while giving up two hits to earn the win, improving 1-1 on the season.

The lone Martin Luther lead of the day came on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the first. Carlin escaped any further damage by striking out the next hitter to end the inning. Minnesota Morris leveled the score in the bottom of the inning when Logan Graves reached on an error, stole second, stole third, and then scored on an error by the catcher.

The Cougars took the lead for good in the fourth inning. Joe Pelle singled with two outs in the inning to score Tyler Carper and make it 2-1. Pelle and Branden Carlson then executed a double-steal that brought Carlson in for a 3-1 edge.

A pair of errors in the fifth inning by Minnesota Morris allowed Martin Luther to score a run and cut it to a 3-2 lead, but an RBI single from Carper in the bottom of the frame reestablished a two-run margin for the Cougars at 4-2. Alex Baumann drove in another run in the sixth with a groundout that cashed in Blake Haugen. The final insurance run came in the eighth with a Pelle sac fly that brought home Lucas Athey.

Mammenga relieved Lindgren for the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to close it out. Pelle and Evan Benson each had two hits in the game for the Cougars.

Game Two: Minnesota Morris 11, Martin Luther 1 (7 innings)
Brian Vanyo (2-2) went the distance with seven strikeouts and only two hits allowed as Minnesota Morris closed out the day with a run-rule victory over the Knights.

It took until the third inning for Minnesota Morris to start rolling and the Cougars were helped along by some sloppy play from Martin Luther. Three walks and an error scored the first run of the game and a wild pitch allowed the second run to score. Julien Shadle increased the UMN Morris lead to 3-0, leading off the bottom of the fourth with a solo blast to left.

A five-run bottom of the fifth put Minnesota Morris well in command. Carlson doubled in Josh Doss and Benson to go on top, 5-0. The inning ended with Baumann out at third looking to stretch a double to a triple, but not before he cleared the bases on the hit to score Pelle, Tyler Rowland, and Carlson for an 8-0 lead.

The Knights scored their only run in the top of the seventh on an RBI groundout, but Minnesota Morris ended the game in the bottom half. A Shadle single scored Carlson after he had led the inning off with a double. Graves drove in Michael Nezerka later in the inning for a 10-1 advantage. A double off the bat of Benson scored Shane Brown and brought the game to a close at 11-1.

Baumann was 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs in the game. Carlson and Shadle each added two hits apiece as well.