ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team took the opener in a three-game series with North Central University on Friday by a score of 17-5 in eight innings. The win lifts the Cougars to 7-12 overall and evens their record at 2-2 in the UMAC.

The scoring started early for Minnesota Morris, with lead-off hitter David Steffen reaching on an error and scoring on a double from Ethan Schmitz. With the bases loaded later in the inning, Keegan Jonas drove in Schmitz on a fielder's choice grounder to make it 2-0.

North Central responded in the bottom of the first against starting pitcher Parker Gilchrist by scoring on a fielder's choice grounder of its own, but the Cougars maintained a 2-1 lead into the third inning.

A Ty Beasley double led off of the top of the third and he scored on a sacrifice fly from Jonas to up the Minnesota Morris lead to 3-1. Evan Benson then reached on an error to start off the top of the fourth and scored on a Steffen single to make it 4-1.

The offense continued to roll in the fifth inning. Ben Meuser started things off with a double and was brought home by a Zach Froman single. Later in the frame, both Froman and Jonas scored on a passed ball for a 7-1 edge. Before the inning was through, an Alex Baumann single brought Steffen in for an 8-1 cushion.

A Cougar error in the bottom of the fifth opened the door for North Central to plate two runs. Meuser raced in from third in the top of the sixth to push the margin to 9-3, but the Rams were able to draw within four runs, 9-5, on a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.

Any NCU hopes of a comeback were dashed quickly with an eight-run explosion from Minnesota Morris in the top of the eighth. The first run scored on a RBI groundout from Benson that brought Meuser in to make it 10-5. An error kept the inning alive and the subsequent seven runs all scored with two down in the frame. Froman ran in from third on the error to make it 11-5. With the bases loaded, Schmitz drove in a run by drawing a walk and Beasley scored another by being hit by a pitch. That left the score at 13-5 with the bases still loaded and Meuser cleared them on a grand slam to increase the lead to 12. After Josh Osten retired the side in the bottom of the eighth, the game ended early via the run rule.

Minnesota Morris totaled 16 hits on the day, with three hits apiece coming from Steffen, Meuser, and Froman. Baumann, Schmitz, and Jonas also had multi-hit days. Joey Reinarts struck out five in 5.0 innings of relief to get the win and move to 3-2 on the season.

The three-game series between the Cougars and Rams continues tomorrow at the University of Northwestern with a 9 a.m. first pitch.