DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team fell into an early hole on Saturday against the University of Wisconsin-Superior and were unable to fully climb all the way back out, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Yellowjackets. The loss sends the Cougars to 10-11 (1-5 UMAC) on the season. 

UW-Superior took the lead early on, scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning. The Yellowjackets pushed their first run across on a RBI single from Ryan Casteneda, while the second run of the frame crossed home plate on a Cougar error.

Minnesota Morris got on the board in the top of the third. With two down and no one on, Alex Baumann collected his second hit of the game and Tyler Scheler followed with a single to keep the inning alive. Following that, David Steffen doubled down the line in right to score Baumann, leaving the game at 2-1 in favor of UW-Superior.

The game moved quickly through the middle innings as neither team mustered much on offense for quite awhile. That changed in the bottom of the seventh as the Yellowjackets expanded their lead to 4-1. Sam McNosky and Nick Fredrickson had back-to-back RBI singles with two outs, ending the day of Cougar starting pitcher Cole Mammenga and putting them in a tough spot entering the final stretch.

Minnesota Morris nearly pulled the comeback off, answering with two runs immediately in the top of the eighth. Baumann and Scheler led the inning off with consecutive doubles to make it 4-2. With two down, Ty Beasley singled up the middle to score Scheler before the Yellowjackets got out of the jam.

The Cougars made quick work of the bottom of the eighth, turning a double play to end the frame, however they then went down in order in the ninth as Matt Tappe closed it out for the save.

Mammenga went 6.2 innings and struck out four, but was tagged with the loss to go to 2-2 on the year. Colin Lindgren threw the last 1.1 innings for the Cougars, giving up just a single hit.

Baumann led the offense for Minnesota Morris with a 3-for-4 day, scoring a pair of runs. Both Scheler and Beasley collected two hits in the game.

The Cougars and Yellowjackets continue and conclude their three-game series on Wednesday with a doubleheader in St. Cloud at Dick Putz Field starting at 1 p.m.