MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team momentarily had Bethany Lutheran College on the ropes on Thursday night, scoring nine unanswered runs to take a 9-7 lead into the eighth inning before the Vikings recovered and advanced to the winner's bracket of the UMAC Tournament with a 10-9 victory.

The fourth meeting of the season between the Vikings and the Cougars hinged on big innings, with both sides scoring at least three times in any inning in which a run crossed home. Scoreless through two frames, Bethany Lutheran took the lead in the bottom of the third against Minnesota Morris starting pitcher Brian Vanyo on three singles and an error. The Vikings scored their three runs on a bases-loaded walk, followed by a sacrifice fly, followed by a single from Brad Bickmann.

Bickmann played a major role two innings later as he deposited a three-run homer over the wall in left-center to give Bethany Lutheran a 6-0 lead. After Vanyo exited the game, the Vikings added one more run to take a 7-0 edge into the sixth.

Though the Cougars were struggling to make contact against Viking starting pitcher Gavin Jacobsen, they managed to put something together in the sixth inning and eventually chased Jacobsen from the game. Alex Baumann started it off with a lead-off single and a stolen base before Tyler Scheler worked a one-out walk. Ethan Schmitz then singled to load the bases and Ben Meuser singled in Baumann for the first Minnesota Morris run of the night. A walk to Keegan Jonas that forced in another run ended the game for Jacobsen at 7-2. With two outs in the inning, Zach Froman and Ashton Pauly were each walked by BLC relief pitcher Jackson Huiras to plate two more runs and make it 7-4.

The game moved quickly into the eighth inning and Minnesota Morris ended Huiras' outing with a single from Meuser, a pitch that hit Jonas to put two aboard, and a RBI single from Ty Beasley that brought the Cougars within two, 7-5. With no outs and the bases loaded, Pauly tripled down the line in right to clear the bases and give Minnesota Morris a stunning 8-7 lead. Baumann then singled up the middle against a drawn-in Viking infield to bring Pauly in for a 9-7 advantage.

Baumann entered the game in relief in the bottom of the eighth and promptly retired the first two hitters he faced before running into trouble. A soft chopper from Aidan Russell kept the inning going and a single, walk, and RBI single from Bickmann tied the game up at 9-9. Ryan Wilhelm came on to try to get out of the inning, but a walk drawn by Vaughn Pouncy with the bases loaded gave the Vikings a 10-9 lead heading to the ninth.

Meuser started off the ninth against Ty Vollmar with a sharp single to left and went to second on a sacrifice bunt from Jonas. Though a two-out error from Bethany Lutheran extended the game and brought Meuser within 90 feet of tying things up, Vollmar got Pauly looking to end it.

Baumann and Meuser were each 3-for-5 at the plate, while Pauly ended with a team-high four RBIs. Baumann fell to 0-1 on the season on the mound.

Minnesota Morris will have a quick turnaround, facing the University of Wisconsin-Superior in an elimination game to start the day on Friday at 1 p.m.