MORRIS, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team struggled to bring runs in during the final game of the three-game series against Crown College on Tuesday, falling by a score of 12-1 in seven innings. The loss drops the Cougars to 11-19 (6-9 UMAC) with two more conference series left to play in the regular season.

Minnesota Morris started the game off strong as Max Binnicker pitched a 1-2-3 inning to quickly move into the bottom of the first. The Cougars put the first run up on the board when Ashton Pauly crossed home plate with the help of Tyler Moriarty and Ethan Schmitz moving him around the bases. Unfortunately, this would be the only run of the day for the Cougars who struggled at the plate against Crown starting pitcher Aidan Volk-Specht.

Crown broke open the game, scoring four runs in the top of the second. From there, the Polars took control of the game, building on its lead until it grew to 12-1 after six complete. The Cougars were able to keep the Polars from scoring in the seventh inning, but two runs were needed to send the game to the eighth and Volk-Specht finished off his complete game with his 10th strikeout of the afternoon to finish it off.

The Cougars will continue UMAC play this Friday with a 3PM first pitch in Mankato against Bethany Lutheran College.