MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team dropped a pair of non-conference matchups to Hamline University on Monday afternoon at Chizek Field, losing the first game to the Pipers by a score of 6-5 in nine innings, before an 11-7 decision in the nightcap.
The Cougars wrap up the 2021 season on Sunday afternoon, traveling to Ashland, Wis. to face Northland College in a UMAC doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m.
Game One: Hamline 6, Minnesota Morris 5 (9 innings)
Minnesota Morris led, 3-1, after five innings, but Hamline scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to send the game to extras, then outlasted the Cougars in two wild extra innings to win the first game of the day.
Josh Doss was solid for 5.2 innings, giving up just six hits and two earned runs, but the lead he left the game with disappeared late and the senior ended with a no-decision.
Colin Lindgren lost the lead in the seventh inning and ultimately suffered the loss to go to 0-1, going 3.1 innings and allowing four runs (two earned).
The Cougars jumped on top early, with
Logan Graves kicking off a two-out rally to take a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Graves doubled, then went to third on a single from senior Julian Shadle. After a walk to senior
Tyler Rowland,
Branden Carlson drew another walk to bring Graves home.
Hamline tied the game in the fourth inning, but Minnesota Morris went back ahead in the bottom of the fifth. Carlson led off with a double down the line and tagged up on a deep flyout from
Tyler Carper before racing home on a wild pitch. The Cougars then loaded the bases and had
Alex Baumann come home on a walk to Graves for a 3-1 advantage.
The Pipers cut their deficit to one in the sixth inning, hitting into a double play but scoring a run on the play to make it 3-2. With two on and one out in the seventh, a slow ground ball did enough to bring the tying run in from third to knot the score at 3-3 and send the game to extras.
The visitors took the lead, 4-3, in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly, only for the Cougars to answer in the bottom of the inning.
Noah Kloss hit a ground-rule double to start, then moved up 90 feet with a sac bunt from Graves. Shadle followed with a single to bring him home to tie it up at 4-4.
Hamline scored twice in the ninth on unearned runs to go back ahead, 6-4. In the bottom of the ninth,
Lucas Athey singled home Baumann to bring UMN Morris within a run, but Graves lined out to center to end the game with the Cougars coming up a run short.
Baumann and Shadle each ended with two hits in the contest for Minnesota Morris.
Game Two: Hamline 11, Minnesota Morris 7
An error in the second inning opened the floodgates for Hamline to score seven runs and Minnesota Morris could never come all the way back.
Cole Mammenga (0-5) gave up zero earned runs, but gave up six hits and walked four to take the loss for the Cougars.
Minnesota Morris didn't give in, quickly pulling within a run of tying up the game. It started in the bottom of the second with a
Joe Pelle single with an error from a Hamline outfielder to move him to second. He later scored on a Graves single to make it 7-1. The comeback continued in the third with five hits and an error to score five runs. Baumann, Pelle, Graves, and Shadle all had RBIs in the inning as the Cougars got to within 7-6.
Hamline locked down the Cougar offense for a little while after that, opening up another big lead. Colin Schuetz had a solo home run in the fourth inning and the Pipers added three more runs in the sixth to go up, 11-6.
The Cougars made one last effort, but weren't able to come all the way back. Kloss doubled in the sixth and advanced on an error before being driven in on a sac fly from Carlson. Down by four, UMN Morris loaded the bases in the seventh with one away before Mac Enlow closed the door for the Pipers.
Pelle was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the game. Baumann, Graves, and Carlson each added multi-hit games as well.
