MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team was unable to slow down a potent Bethany Lutheran College offense on Saturday in a doubleheader sweep by the Vikings. BLC started the three-game set with 10-0 and 18-5 wins over the Cougars, dropping UMN Morris to 11-21 (6-11 UMAC) on the season.

The series is scheduled to conclude tomorrow in Mankato with a single game starting at 1 p.m.

Game 1: Bethany Lutheran 10, Minnesota Morris 0 (7 innings)
Drew Hedtke worked fast and threw a gem, giving up just a single hit in a complete game while striking out six Minnesota Morris hitters in the first game of the day.

Liam Peterson hit what would turn into the game-winning home run in the second inning with a two-run shot to stake Bethany Lutheran to an early lead. Aidan Russell tacked on another run in the third with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Single runs in the fifth and sixth innings increased the Bethany Lutheran lead to 5-0 before a five-run seventh inning ended the contest early. Matt Verdugo and Eli Fest had big hits in the frame for the Vikings as they walked it off with a 10-run lead.

Parker Gilchrist (3-2) went 6.0 innings for the Cougars and struck out three. James Nelson collected the lone Minnesota Morris hit, a single in the third inning.

Game 2: Bethany Lutheran 18, Minnesota Morris 5 (7 innings)
The Cougar offense showed a little more firepower in the second game, but a lead in the first inning disappeared when Bethany Lutheran posted a five-run second and expanded on its margin from there.

Walks to Ashton Pauly and Ben Meuser started the game off for the Cougars before a Bethany Lutheran error with Ethan Schmitz at the plate allowed Pauly to race home for a 1-0 advantage.

With the score tied at 1-1, a Malachi Santiago grand slam tilted the game in favor of the Vikings in the second inning. Will Carlson added his second RBI of the game in the third inning to make it 6-1 in favor of Bethany Lutheran before Minnesota Morris scored a run of its own in the top of the fourth. With two down, Alex Goedhard and Nelson came the inning going and a Pauly single drove in Goedhard to make it 6-2. 

The Vikings kept humming along in the bottom of the fourth with four straight singles to take an 8-2 lead. Two more runs in the fifth made it 10-2 before one more Cougar comeback attempt. Again staying alive with two down, Minnesota Morris had six straight batters reach base and Schmitz drove in two runs with a double before Dane Mammenga drove in another with a base hit, cutting the deficit down to 10-5.

Batting in the bottom of the sixth, Bethany Lutheran thwarted any ideas of a Cougar rally with an eight-run inning that was highlighted by a Russell grand slam and another two-run homer from Peterson. Minnesota Morris then went down in order to wrap up the game in the top of the seventh.

Pauly and Schmitz each had two hits in the contest for the Cougars. Josh Osten threw 4.0 innings and was charged with the loss to drop to 3-3 on the season.