MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team started off UMAC play on Monday with a split of a home doubleheader with Martin Luther College. The Knights built a big lead and held on for a 16-10 win in the first game. Fighting darkness late in the second game, the Cougars came back from a pair of deficits to win, 10-8.

Before resuming UMAC play on April 10 at North Central University, Minnesota Morris will run it back against Martin Luther on April 8 in New Ulm in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.

Game One: Martin Luther 16, Minnesota Morris 10
A close game after two innings took a sudden turn in the third when Martin Luther pushed 10 runs across before Minnesota Morris could record an out. The Cougars fought back – thanks in large part to a pair of home runs from Tori Nichols-Kraft – but could never get all the way level.

After falling behind 1-0 and 2-1, Minnesota Morris tied the game in the bottom of the first with a RBI from Morgan Mathews and again an inning later with a RBI from Lydia Mann. In the third, the first 11 hitters from Martin Luther reached base somehow, resulting in 10 runs for a 12-2 lead.

Jasmine Jensen and Olivia Diver had RBIs in the third and fourth innings to get Minnesota Morris closer, then Nichols-Kraft took a big chunk out of the Knight lead with a three-run shot to make it 12-7. Another two-run homer from Nichols-Kraft in the bottom of the sixth made it 15-9 and a RBI from Mann later in the inning once again brought the Cougars within five runs, 15-10.

With the score 16-10 heading to the bottom of the seventh, Martin Luther made things easier on themselves by getting the first two outs of the inning. Though Mathews and Nichols-Kraft kept the game going with base hits, the Knights were eventually able to end it and pick up the win.

The Cougars ended up with 21 hits in the game. Mann was 5-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs. Both Mathew and Nichols-Kraft were 4-for-5 with two runs scored. Autumn Theis suffered the loss to fall to 2-1 on the season.

Game Two: Minnesota Morris 10, Martin Luther 8 (6 innings)
Things didn't look good early for the Cougars, but the offense got rolling in the bottom of the third and the team was able to close it out in the top of the sixth while fighting a quickly-darkening sky. Mollie Dummer went to 3-4 by picking up the win on the afternoon.

Trailing 4-0 heading to the bottom of the third, Minnesota Morris cut the deficit in half with RBIs from Theis and Mathews to make it 4-2. With the bases loaded, Dummer was hit by a pitch and Jensen drew a walk to knot the score at 4-4. A fielder's choice from Haley Wollschlager then drove in Sarah Curtiss for a 5-4 UMN Morris lead.

In the fourth, Martin Luther was able to score twice with two down in the inning to take the lead back at 6-5. In the bottom of the frame, a Mathews single knocked in Brenna Mahoney to tie the score up at 6-6. 

Nichols-Kraft delivered another big hit in the bottom of the fifth, clearing the bases with a double that scored Jensen, Wollschlager, and Mann to make it 9-6. Before the inning was done, another run would score on a Martin Luther error. 

The top of the sixth wasn't easy, but with two runs in already to halve the Minnesota Morris edge down to 10-8, a big fielder's choice grounder back to Dummer that resulted in the second out of the inning at home helped stem the tide and allowed the Cougars to hold on to get the win.

Nichols-Kraft led the Cougar effort at the plate with a 3-for-4 game, while Mathews and Curtiss each collected a pair of hits.