DAVENPORT, Fla. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team split its doubleheader with Mitchell College on Wednesday. The Cougars took the first game from the Mariners, 2-1, before Mitchell came back for an 8-0 shutout in game two. Minnesota Morris is now 5-9 overall on the season.

The Cougars will wrap up their Spring Break trip tomorrow with a 9:30 a.m. (EDT) first pitch against Western New England University in Davenport, Fla.

Game 1: Minnesota Morris 2, Mitchell 1
Alex Baumann was at the center of everything for Minnesota Morris in the first game of the afternoon. In the bottom of the first inning, a two-out home run to left from Baumann staked the Cougars to a 1-0 lead.

The pitching of Josh Osten took over from there, not allowing a Mitchell baserunner past first base until the fifth inning. In the fifth, a single, a walk, and a passed ball put two Mariners in scoring position until Osten induced a popout to short and a lineout to right to end the threat.

Mitchell tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth as Dougie DelaCruz launched a homer to right with one away in the inning. The Mariners then had the bases loaded and still just one out when David Steffen handle a ground ball at third and went home for the force out before Osten ended the inning by getting a fly out to center field.

Baumann led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to left before stealing second with one out in the inning. Ethan Schmitz drove Baumann in with a single to right, making it 2-1. Taking over on the mound in the seventh, Baumann worked a 1-2-3 inning to close things out for the save and a fourth straight Cougar victory.

Osten picked up the win, moving to 1-2 after scattering seven hits over 6.0 innings and striking out three. Baumann and Ben Meuser had two hits each for the Minnesota Morris offense.

Game 2: Mitchell 8, Minnesota Morris 0
Mitchell scored early in the second game and pitcher Tyler Daly went the distance while allowing just four hits to lead the Mariners to the victory.

Matt Falk had a RBI triple and Lelo Martinez followed with a RBI double to make it 2-0 after the first inning. Mitchell then added three more runs in the second inning, including a two-run homer from Bo Yaworski for a 5-0 lead.

A three-run fifth inning from the Mariners increased the lead to 8-0. All three runs off of reliever Elias Harrington were unearned as an error early in the inning opened the floodgates.

Parker Gilchrist (0-2) took the loss, throwing the first 3.0 innings. He was relieved by Harrington, who went 2.0 innings, and Owen Dylong who threw the final inning for the Cougars.