MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team made it a day to remember in the team's first two home games since 2019. Playing at Chizek Field for the first time, the Cougars rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the first game against North Central University and walked off with a 4-3 victory. Later, with rain falling constantly throughout, an outpouring of offense led to a 12-0 win in five innings over the Rams.

The Cougars (2-6) are back at it tomorrow with a trip to New Ulm, Minn. for a non-conference doubleheader with Martin Luther College starting at 1:30 p.m. 

Game One: Minnesota Morris 4, North Central 3
Down a pair of runs after the first inning and another run after the third, Minnesota Morris battled back by scoring in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to complete the comeback in walk-off fashion. Logan Graves (1-1) relieved Nathen Carlin heading into the seventh inning and got the win after putting North Central down in order to set the table for the offense to finish the job.

Trailing 3-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth, the Minnesota Morris comeback started with an inning in which two runs scored despite the team not collecting a hit. Blake Haugen drew a lead-off walk, Alex Baumann was hit by a pitch with one out, and Evan Benson went to first on a walk with two down in the inning. With the bases loaded, the first Cougar run was scored on a balk. Josh Doss then walked to re-load the bases and a wild pitch brought another run in to make it 3-2.

In his final inning of action, Carlin put North Central down in order in the sixth. In the bottom of the frame, two were aboard with two down when Baumann singled to score Shane Brown, knotting things up at 3-3. 

Following a 1-2-3 inning from Graves in the seventh, Benson led off with a walk and an error from the North Central pitcher moved him all the way to third on a ball in play off the bat of Doss. Tyler Carper provided the game-winning RBI on the next at-bat with an infield single to end it at 4-3.

Carlin had a no-decision on the afternoon but threw well after a rocky start, going 6.0 innings and striking out seven. 

Game Two: Minnesota Morris 12, North Central 0 (5 innings)
The momentum of the earlier win carried over to the second game between Minnesota Morris and North Central. Following a 1-2-3 inning from Brian Vanyo (1-2) in the top of the first, the Cougars exploded for eight runs on seven hits, essentially putting the game away right from the start.

Baumann led off the first inning with a base hit back up the middle and following a bunt single from Graves, he would come around to score on a RBI single from Benson. Brendan Carlson then added his first of two sacrifice flies to score Graves and make it 2-0. Julien Shadle followed that with a double that doubled the advantage to 4-0. A Joe Pelle double would bring Shadle home for a 5-0 lead as the Cougars successfully batted around in the inning. That left two runners aboard for Baumann, making his second trip to the plate. His three-run homer blew the game wide open and made it 8-0 heading to the second inning.

Minnesota Morris grew the lead to 10-0 with RBIs from Pelle and Baumann in the bottom of the third. In the fourth, Carlson had another sac fly and the final run scored on a wild pitch as Doss raced home for a 12-0 edge. As the rain continued to cause delays and the game was already out of reach, the decision was made to wrap things up early.

Vanyo went 5.0 innings and allowed only three hits while striking out six. Baumann was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four runs driven in. Shadle added a pair of hits as part of an 11-hit effort from the UMN Morris offense.