DAVENPORT, Fla. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team wrapped up Spring Break with an exciting 14-11 victory of the Rutgers University-Newark on Thursday morning. The Cougars come home to Minnesota with an overall record of 5-4.

The game got off to a promising start for the Cougars as Joe Pelle was hit by a pitch and Alex Baumann immediately tripled him home. That was followed by a sac fly from Tyler Scheler to leave it at 2-0 heading to the bottom of the first.

Rutgers-Newark came back with one run in the bottom of the first, then tacked on two more in the second to take a 3-2 lead on Minnesota Morris. Starting off the top of the third, Baumann singled and then was driven home by a triple from Scheler to level the game at 3-3 before Scheler scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Ethan Schmitz singled to bring home Evan Benson for a 5-3 advantage.

That lead didn't last long as Rutgers-Newark exploded for six runs on five hits in the bottom of third. It could have been worse if Benson didn't cut down a Scarlet Raider runner at home plate, keeping the Cougars within four at 9-5.

The teams traded runs in the fourth inning before Minnesota Morris cut the lead in half with two more runs in the fifth. Benson led the inning off with a double and then scored on an error. Pelle singled in Noah Kloss to leave the score at 10-8.

By that time, reliever Brian Vanyo had entered the game and calmed the Rutgers-Newark offense down a bit. After a walk and a stolen base by the Scarlet Raider lead-off hitter in the fifth, Vanyo got the next three hitters to keep Minnesota Morris within two. That set the stage for the Cougar comeback. A one-out triple by Scheler was cashed in on a Tyler Carper single to make it 10-9. Carper would then score on a single from Kloss to knot the game up at 10-10. With two down, Keegan Jonas doubled to left to score two and Logan Graves followed with a triple to bring Jonas home and stake the Cougars to a 13-10 edge.

For the first time all day, both offenses reached a lull in the middle innings until Rutgers-Newark scored once in the bottom of the eighth to make it 13-11. Each of the next two hitters for the Scarlet Raiders represented the tying run but David Steffen struck out the first before a fielder's choice ended the inning.

In the top of the ninth, Graves manufactured an insurance run with a lead-off single, followed by steals of second and third base. Scheler knocked him home with a two-out single to give UMN Morris a three-run lead heading to the bottom of the ninth. In the last turn at the dish for Rutgers-Newark, Steffen worked around a one-out walk to get the next two hitters, including a strikeout to end it.

Vanyo picked up the win to go to 2-1 on the season, going 3.0 innings and giving up just a single run. Steffen earned the save by throwing the final 3.0 innings and again allowing just a single run.

Offensively, Scheler and Graves each collected three hits in the game for Minnesota Morris and Scheler drove in three runs. Benson scored three times, while Pelle, Baumann, Scheler, and Kloss all crossed home plate twice in the contest.

Next up for the Cougars is a long weekend of games at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis from March 25-27. Minnesota Morris will have doubleheaders each day, starting on Friday the 25th with two games against Macalester College beginning at 11 a.m.