ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team went 1-1 on the day on Friday in a pair of games held at the University of Northwestern. The Cougars were defeated by the University of Wisconsin-Superior, 15-1, in the opener. Later in the afternoon, UMN Morris smacked Northland College by a score of 17-8 that wasn't as close as the final suggests. The split of the day leaves the Cougars at 10-17 (7-7 UMAC) on the year.

Tomorrow's action gets underway at 10 a.m. on the home field of North Central University with the Cougars facing Martin Luther College. The day wraps up with a 2 p.m. contest against Bethany Lutheran College.

UW-Superior 15, Minnesota Morris 1 (5 innings)
The Yellowjackets scored in all five innings and it was an eight-run fourth inning that proved decisive in bringing the game to a close after five innings in the opener on Friday.

Tayler Kraemer and Emma Pillion combined for a one-hitter in the circle for UW-Superior, with Tori Nichols-Kraft coming up with the only hit of the game for Minnesota Morris in the bottom of the first. The Yellowjackets took a 2-0 lead after the top half of the first inning. The Cougars responded with a walk to Sierra Stevens, the single by Nichols-Kraft, and a walk to Marissa Allen to load the bases. Mollie Dummer was then hit by a Kraemer pitch to force in a run, making it 2-1, but UW-Superior escaped further damage.

In the innings that followed, UW-Superior scored once in the second inning and then three times in the third inning against Minnesota Morris starting pitcher Adrianna Johnson to take a 6-1 lead. Facing relievers Abby Wothe and Grace Penke in the fourth inning, the Yellowjackets had a combination of six hits and two Cougar errors as they tallied eight runs to take a commanding 14-1 advantage before tacking on one more in the fifth.

Johnson fell to 0-2 on the season with the loss for the Cougars.

Minnesota Morris 17, Northland 8 (5 innings)
Minnesota Morris put 11 runs on the board in a wild fourth inning to take a 17-2 lead on Northland. Though the LumberJills managed to score six times in the bottom of the fifth, it wasn't enough to extend the game as the Cougars grabbed the five-inning victory.

With rain playing a factor as the day went along, Minnesota Morris took advantage of wildness from Northland starter Sofia Garcia in the top of the first inning. Stevens led off with a walk and Dummer was hit with a pitch. Both moved up a station on a wild pitch and Nichols-Kraft was then walked, with ball four getting away from the catcher as Stevens ran home for a 1-0 lead. Autumn Theis later brought Dummer in with a sacrifice fly and Nichols-Kraft scored on yet another wild pitch to make it 3-0 before Dummer had to throw a pitch.

Northland was able to answer back with two runs in the bottom of the first to make it a 3-2 ballgame, but Minnesota Morris kept its offense rolling in the subsequent innings. Stevens led off the second inning with a double and scored on a Northland error to make it 4-2. Following a 1-2-3 inning from Dummer in the second, the Cougars tacked on another two runs in the third thanks to a pair of LumberJill errors and a RBI single from Dummer, upping the margin to 6-2. 

Things really snowballed in the fourth inning for Northland. Having already committed three errors in the game, the LumberJills committed three more while the Minnesota Morris offense pounded out 11 hits against Garcia and relief pitcher Ariana Wilson. Big hits in the inning for the Cougars included a two-run triple from Olivia Diver, a pair of RBI doubles from Lizzy Hanson, a RBI single from Brenna Mahoney, a RBI single from Dummer, a RBI double from Nichols-Kraft, and a two-run homer from Marissa Allen.

Dummer sat Northland down in order again in the fourth, retiring her 11th straight batter in the process. Holding a 17-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars ran into some trouble after two quick outs and the LumberJills eventually scored six runs in their final turn at the plate, however they would have needed eight to keep the game going. A lineout to Stevens for the third out ended the game early.

Hanson was 3-for-3 in the game, while Stevens, Dummer, and Diver all had two hits on the afternoon. Stevens scored four runs, with Dummer and Nichols-Kraft each adding two runs scored. The win for Dummer improved her to 8-7 on the season.