DAVENPORT, Fla. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team came up short on Sunday afternoon against the University of Wisconsin-Stout, falling to the Blue Devils by a score of 10-8. Tied at 7-7 heading into the seventh inning, UW-Stout pulled ahead with a single run in the seventh inning and then tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to help hold off the Cougars.

Starting pitcher Parker Gilchrist had a tough start to the game as the leadoff hitter reached on an error before the second batter was hit by a pitch and Justin Sedin homered to make it 3-0. Gilchrist settled in and recorded the next three outs to escape further damage. Minnesota Morris pulled one back in the bottom of the inning when Landen Meyerdirk walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a catcher's throwing error before a Tyler Moriarty sacrifice fly brought him in.

With two on and two out in the bottom of the third, Ben Meuser tripled to right field to clear the bases and knot the score at 3-3. Next up, Ethan Schmitz smacked a triple of his own, scoring Meuser and giving Minnesota Morris a 4-3 edge. David Steffen kept things moving with a RBI single and a walk to Ryan McGie ended the day of UW-Stout starter Tucker Beving. Facing reliever Quintin Gonzalez, Ashton Pauly connected on another RBI single and scored Steffen to make it 6-3 after three complete.

The Blue Devils responded quickly, pulling one run back on an error before Leyten Bowers collected the second three-run homer of the game for UW-Stout, making it a 7-6 ballgame. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, McGie smashed a solo shot to level the game at 7-7.

The score was still deadlocked entering the top of the seventh inning but UW-Stout was able to push one run across with a two-out RBI double from Drew Ries. More two-out offense came in the ninth inning when Justin Schnell drove in a pair of runs to make it 10-7 before the Cougars could retire the side. In the bottom half of the frame, Meuser reached on a single and made it to third with two down. Steffen got UMN Morris one run closer with a RBI single before the Blue Devils ended the game on a strikeout.

Trevor Mong (0-1) struck out the side in his inning of relief, but took the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh. Meuser and Steffen each had two hits and two RBIs, while James Nelson went 3-for-3 at the dish on the afternoon.

Minnesota Morris continues play in the RussMatt Invitational tomorrow afternoon, facing off with Utica University at 3:15 p.m. (4:15 p.m. EDT) in Davenport, Fla.