NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team kept it rolling on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of Martin Luther College, defeating the Knights by scores of 11-3 and 5-3. The two victories push the Cougar winning streak to 13 games and improve the team to 19-9 (6-0 UMAC) on the season. The first win of the day also gave Head Coach Heather Pennie-Roy her 300th career with with the Minnesota Morris program.

The Cougars will make their home debut next weekend, hosting the University of Wisconsin-Superior in a three-game series. The first matchup with the Yellowjackets is set for Saturday at 5 p.m.

Game 1: Minnesota Morris 11, Martin Luther 3 (6 innings)
Minnesota Morris scored multiple runs in five of six innings to pull away from Martin Luther and end the opener of the doubleheader an inning early.

Sierra Stevens led the game off with a single and a sacrifice from Alice Wilkinson moved her to third before a grounder from Skyla Bristol scored Stevens to make it 1-0. A second Cougar run scored as the result of a Martin Luther error to give Bristol a 2-0 cushion before she made her way to the circle.

A couple early walks combined with a single put the Knights on the board in the bottom of the first, but the offense kept coming from the Cougars in the second. With Anna Athey and Stevens aboard, Bristol drove both runners home with a RBI single to increase the lead to 4-1. The top of the order was at it again in the third with Wilkinson driving in a pair on a double to make it 6-1.

After a scoreless fourth inning from both sides, the Minnesota Morris lead was extended to 8-1 in the fifth on an error that allowed Anna Baumann to score and a pitch that hit Alyssa Thornton with the bases loaded to force in another run.

Though Martin Luther was able to scratch two runs across in the bottom of the fifth to shrink the gap to 8-3, the Knights committed a litany of errors in the sixth inning that resulted in three runs scoring for the Cougars. A 1-2-3 inning from Bristol ended it with Minnesota Morris up by eight runs.

Bristol struck out eight in 6.0 innings to move to 9-1 on the season while also driving in four runs at the plate. Stevens was 3-for-3 at the top of the lineup.

Game 2: Minnesota Morris 5, Martin Luther 3
The Cougars survived a scare by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh to break open a 2-2 contest and Morgan Wilhelm (1-3) induced a game-ending groundout with the tying run on second base to finish things off.

In a common theme of the day, Stevens set the table for the Cougar offense, leading off the first inning with a double and scoring on a Mary Landherr single. Tori Nichols then doubled the lead in the third inning with a two-out RBI single that brought Landherr home. 

Martin Luther had little luck against Wilhelm until the fourth inning when the Knights managed to pull one run back with a RBI double. MLC then tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, though Wilhelm managed to retire two straight hitters and leave the bases loaded.

The game looked as though extra innings might be needed until the Cougar offense got to Martin Luther pitcher Jessica Horn. Olivia Losee led off the inning with a single and then went to third when the Knight defense committed an error with Athey batting. Back at the top of the order, Stevens singled home both runs and Thornton added a RBI groundout later in the frame to make it 5-2.

A three-base error to start the bottom of the seventh put Wilhelm in a little bit of a bind, but she struck out Horn for the first out and the Cougars allowed the runner from third to score while getting a force-out at second for the second out. A single put two runners aboard and that was followed by a wild pitch that put them both in scoring position until Wilhelm got Katelyn Rassat to ground out to close out the victory.

Landherr led the way at the dish, going 3-for-4 in this one. Stevens was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Wilhelm scattered nine hits across her complete game while striking out three.