ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team took a pair of leads in the early innings, but the University of Northwestern put crooked numbers on the board in the third, fourth, and sixth innings to pull away for a 9-2 victory on Tuesday afternoon. The Cougars fall to 5-10 overall and 0-1 in the UMAC with the loss.

The game started off on a positive note for Minnesota Morris. In the top of the first inning, Ashton Pauly led off with a walk and stole second. A Northwestern error extended the inning and Ethan Schmitz made the Eagles pay with a two-out RBI single to bring Pauly home for a 1-0 lead.

A pair of walks in the bottom of the second inning set the stage for a RBI groundout from Northwestern that tied the score at 1-1, but Minnesota Morris responded in the top of the third. Pauly again led off the inning and was hit by a pitch, moving station to station on a sacrifice bunt, an infield single, and finally home on a sacrifice fly from David Steffen to give the Cougars a 2-1 edge.

Northwestern ended starting pitcher Breckin Silvain's day in the bottom of the third with a pair of walks that was followed by a bases-clearing triple. With the score 3-2, another RBI single followed to increase the margin to 4-2 as Dane Mammenga came on in relief.

A two-out double in the bottom of the fourth plated two more Northwestern runs and an error on the first batter of the sixth inning allowed two more unearned runs to score, making it an 8-2 contest. 

Trevor Mong came in to start the bottom of the seventh and Northwestern loaded the bases before he settled in and induced a double play that helped end the threat, although a run did come in on the 6-4-3 putout. The Eagles did no more damage against Mong, but Minnesota Morris was unable to mount much of a threat in the late innings as UNW starting pitcher Nick Drinken went the distance and picked up the win. 

Pauly went 2-for-3 with two runs scored on the day. Other hits from the Cougars came from Ben Meuser, Schmitz, and Ryan McGie. Silvain (0-3) was charged with the loss after throwing 2.1 innings. Mammenga struck out three in 3.2 innings of relief.

Minnesota Morris and Northwestern are back at it tomorrow in a doubleheader to finish up the series. First pitch in St. Paul is set for 2 p.m.