NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team defeated the University of Mount Saint Vincent in a 9-0 shutout that lasted five innings in their first game of the day. The Cougars then followed up that performance with a 10-1 victory in six innings over the State University of New York - Delhi. The two victories for UMN Morris run its record to 8-9 overall on the season.

Minnesota Morris 9, Mount Saint Vincent 0 (5 innings)
Minnesota Morris started scoring early in the game with three runs in the first inning. The first run came from Sierra Stevens after working her way around the bases. The Cougars followed that up with a run from Alice Wilkinson on the next at-bat. Mary Landherr scored the final run of the inning. Athena Grimley scored a run for the Cougars in the third inning off of a Malena Mahoney RBI to make it 4-0. A three-batter defensive inning moved the Cougars quickly to the fourth inning where the score remained 4-0. Things got hot for the Cougars in the top of the fifth inning when Grimley, Alyssa Thornton, and Olivia Diver scored in quick succession to bring the score up to 7-0. Anna Baumann and Wilkinson both scored at the end of fifth, upping the score to 9-0.

Grimley (1-2) earned the win the circle, allowing only two hits and striking out five in 5.0 innings. Landherr finished with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.

Minnesota Morris 10, SUNY Delhi 1 (6 innings)
The Cougars started off slow in the first inning of the game, allowing SUNY Delhi to score a run in the bottom of the inning. Things sped up for the team in the top of the second inning when both Baumann and Thornton scored off an RBI from Anna Athey. The game tipped heavily in favor of Minnesota Morris in the fourth when both Olivia Diver and Thornton scored on Athey RBIs, Baumann crossed home on a sacrifice fly from Wilkinson, and Athey scored on an RBI from Tori Nichols. The Cougars finished up the inning with a run from Nichols to put them up 8-1. The Cougars put up two perfect defensive innings in the fourth and fifth innings led by Thornton on the mound, but were unable to put more runs on the board until the top of the sixth. The Cougars solidified their win with runs from Courtney Smith and Skyla Bristol off Thornton RBIs. 

Thornton (4-3) had the second two-hitter of the day for Minnesota Morris as she picked up the win while striking out six. She was also the top hitter in the lineup, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored on the day.

Cougar softball finishes up their spring break trip tomorrow with two games. The first game of the day will start at 8 AM (9 AM EDT) against Keene State College. The Cougars will follow that with a 10 AM (11 AM EDT) game versus Vermont State University-Castleton.