WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team was swept by Colby College in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, dropping 1-0 and 7-2 decisions to the Mules. UMN Morris is now 3-11 on the season.

The Cougars conclude their Spring Break trip tomorrow with a pair of contests in Winter Haven, Fla. First up is a 9 a.m. (EDT) meeting with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville followed by a 2 p.m. (EDT) game against Knox College.

Game 1: Colby 1, Minnesota Morris 0
Abby Orso and Autumn Theis both went the distance in the circle, but it was Orso who got the better of Minnesota Morris by the smallest of margins.

Theis was often playing with fire in the ballgame, but the senior left the bases loaded and gave up no runs in the first and second innings, then stranded two more Colby baserunners in the top of the third. The magic ran out in the top of the fourth. The Mules loaded the bases with one out in the inning and a sacrifice fly from Chloe Wilcox brought home Hannah Masterson from third to make it 1-0.

Orso took it from there. The Colby pitcher finished with 14 strikeouts and escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth with two of those punchouts to maintain the lead. She then added two more strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh as the Cougars went down in order to finish the game.

Theis gave up just five hits and the one run, but took the loss to fall to 0-3 on the year. Minnesota Morris collected five hits in the game, with one each from Mary Landherr, Tori Nichols, Olivia Losee, Adrianna Johnson, and Anna Athey.

Game 2: Colby 7, Minnesota Morris 2
Colby jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings and then tacked on four runs in the bottom of the sixth after Minnesota Morris had cut its deficit down to one run.

Amanda Cabral and Logan Luebbe had RBIs in the bottom of the first inning before Emma Burnham tagged a solo home run in the second.

The Cougars threatened in each of the first three innings but failed to break through with a run. In the top of the fourth, UMN Morris finally took advantage thanks in part to an error from the Mules that kept things rolling. With the bases loaded and one out, Sierra Stevens singled to bring home Athey for the first run. Next up, Alice Wilkinson lofted a sacrifice fly to center that scored Olivia Diver.

The decisive inning was the bottom of the sixth. Colby started the inning with consecutive singles before Johnson recorded a pair outs. However, a hit by pitch kept the inning going and Jackie Hill then cleared the bases with a triple to make it 6-2. Luebbe followed with a single to drive in Hill for the final margin.

Johnson was charged with the loss to fall to 3-4 on the season in the circle for Minnesota Morris. Stevens, Wilkinson, Losee, Athey, Olivia Diver, and Brenna Mahoney had hits in the game for the Cougars.