ASHLAND, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team officially clinched a berth in next week's UMAC Tournament following a 9-3 win over Northland College on Friday. The Cougars improve to 17-17 (12-7 UMAC).

Early offense was a key difference on Friday. Minnesota Morris put three runs on the board in the first and second innings before adding two more in the top of the third to grab an 8-1 lead on Northland. LumberJack starting pitcher Andrew Birko had control problems early on, hitting Alex Baumann to start the game and later issuing a pair of walks before hitting Zach Froman. Tyler Scheler had a RBI single to plate Baumann and Froman's hit by pitch scored Scheler as part of a 3-0 advantage before Brian Vanyo had to toe the rubber.

Northland pulled one run back in the bottom of the first on a Minnesota Morris error, but the Cougars were undeterred. Baumann and Evan Benson led off the second with a pair of singles before Scheler drove them both in, making it 5-1. Continuing to take one for the team, Froman was hit by another pitch and drove in another run before the inning was through, increasing the lead to 6-1.

In the third inning, Baumann drew a walk before stealing second and third base. That created the opportunity for another Scheler RBI single and that was followed by an Ethan Schmitz RBI as the cushion grew to 8-1.

The final runs Northland would score came in the bottom of the fourth on a lead-off solo shot from Ridge Guyette and an unearned run from a Cougar error later in the inning. That made it an 8-3 contest, but Vanyo had very little trouble after that.

Batting in the top of the fifth, Ben Meuser kept the inning going with a two-out single and Keegan Jonas made Northland pay with a double to left, driving in Meuser and making it 9-3. That proved to be the final run of the game as Vanyo and Northland reliever Peyton Solberg locked down the offenses from that point on. The Cougars turned a 4-6-3 double play to wrap up the seventh and Vanyo induced a flyout to centerfield to leave the bases loaded in the ninth.

Hurling a complete game, Vanyo moved to 4-1 on the season while striking out six and leaving a rested bullpen for tomorrow's doubleheader. Scheler went 3-for-6 with four RBIs on the afternoon, while both Baumann and Meuser added two hits each. Baumann became the all-time leader in runs scored at Minnesota Morris in the contest as he crossed home three times on the day.

Minnesota Morris finishes off UMAC play tomorrow with two games against the LumberJacks starting at 12 p.m.