NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - University of Minnesota Morris softball started their fifth day of play in South Carolina strong, only allowing one run over the span of two games. The Cougars began the day with 1-0 and 5-1 wins over Clarks Summit University and Thiel College, respectively. However, the team was unable to follow that performance into the third game of the day as they fell to SUNY Poly in the nightcap, 4-1. The 2-1 day lifts Minnesota Morris to 6-9 overall on the season. 

Minnesota Morris 1, Clarks Summit 0
The Cougars came out fighting in the first inning with Alice Wilkinson scoring the only run of the game on a Skyla Bristol RBI. The Cougars followed this offensive performance with three perfect defensive innings, in which Alyssa Thornton had three putouts at first base and Bristol clocked six strikeouts. The Cougars struggled to get on base for the rest of the game, but held Clarks Summit at bay from the mound and the field. 

The hits from the Cougar batters in the game came from Wilkinson, Bristol, Sophie Diver, and Mary Landherr. Anna Athey ended the game with an impressive ten putouts from the catcher position. Bristol exhibited her talent on the mound with ten strikeouts total in the game.

Minnesota Morris 5, Thiel 1
Once again, the Cougars set the tone for game two of the day. Sierra Stevens scored in the bottom of the first inning to put the Cougars up, 1-0. Thiel managed to score its one run of the game in the top of the third inning, but the Cougars answered back as runs from Wilkinson and Bristol put them up 3-1 heading into the fourth inning. The Cougars solidified their win in the sixth inning when Anna Athey scored on a Wilkinson RBI and Wilkinson herself scored a few plays later to bring the score to 5-1. 

The Cougars had a total of nine hits in the game, including three from Bristol. The other hits were off the bats of Stevens, Wilkinson, Tori Nichols, Landherr, Athena Grimley, and Athey (1).

SUNY Polytechnic 4, Minnesota Morris 1
In the third game of the day, things started out slow for the Cougars. On the defensive side of the ball, the Cougars gave up two runs to SUNY Poly in the first inning. The Cougars then snuck in a run of their own in the top of the third inning when Anna Baumann scored on a Wilkinson RBI. The Cougars continued to put up a fight, but were unable to score another run against SUNY Poly. The Wildcats were able to score twice on the Cougars in the bottom of the fifth, putting their lead at 4-1. Despite the Cougars battling at the plate in the top of the seventh inning, they were unable to score and SUNY Poly took the game. 

The action picks up again tomorrow for the Cougars in an 8:00 AM (9:00 AM EDT) game against the University of Mount Saint Vincent followed by a 10:00 AM (11:00 AM EDT) contest versus SUNY Delhi.