ASHLAND, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team took care of business in a big way on Saturday, finishing off a three-game sweep of Northland College with victories by scores of 23-0 and 10-0. The two wins improve the Cougars to 13-9 (3-0 UMAC) on the year.

Minnesota Morris travels to Crown College on Monday and Tuesday to make up their three-game series that was postponed two weeks ago. The series begins with a single contest on Monday afternoon in St. Bonifacius at 4 p.m.

Game 1: Minnesota Morris 23, Northland 0 (5 innings)
The opening game of the doubleheader was essentially over after the top of the first inning, with Minnesota Morris scoring 11 runs in its first turn at the plate. The pitching trio of Skyla Bristol (6-1), Jessi Vermeulen, and Athena Grimley handled things from there as the offense continued to pile on the runs as the game progressed.

Sierra Stevens led off the first inning with a single that represented the first of 10 hits in the frame for Minnesota Morris. After a stolen base, Alice Wilkinson drove her in with a ground-rule double. Next up, Bristol smashed a home run to left to make it 3-0. As the inning progressed, Olivia Losee, Anna Athey, Wilkinson, Bristol, Tori Nichols, and Mary Landherr all added RBIs as the cushion grew to 11-0.

After Bristol struck out the side in the first, Wilkinson and Bristol had RBI singles in the second inning to make it 13-0. Three more runs in the third that included a RBI walk from Roena Diver and another RBI single from Bristol increased the margin to 16-0. 

On the heels of the only scoreless inning of the game for Minnesota Morris, the Cougars came back with seven more runs in the top of the fifth. Athena Grimley drove in two with a single, followed by a Kendra Schmitz three-run blast. Anna Baumann later added two RBIs on a ground-rule double.

In the circle for the final two innings, Grimley finished the game off by striking out the side in the bottom of the fifth as the contest concluded early. 

Bristol finished 3-for-3 at the plate with six RBIs. Wilkinson, Landherr, Losee, and Baumann all added two hits apiece. 

Game 2: Minnesota Morris 10, Northland 0 (5 innings)
Alyssa Thornton (6-3) fired a no-hitter that included five strikeouts, while the Cougar offense again staked their pitcher to an early lead and then blew the game wide open in the fourth inning.

Wilkinson made it 2-0 in the first inning with a two-out double that brought home Bristol and Thornton. The very first batter for Northland reached via a Minnesota Morris error, but no other runners would reach base the rest of the way against Thornton. 

Stevens made it 3-0 in the second inning with a RBI single and the game got away from the LumberJills in the fourth as Minnesota Morris scored six runs to bring the run rule into play. After the first three batters of the inning reached, Stevens collected an RBI by being hit by a pitch. Thornton followed that with a RBI single and two more runs scored when Bristol reached on a Northland error. Wilkinson capped the frame with another RBI double to increase the advantage to 9-0. 

Doing it at the plate and in the pitcher's circle, Thornton doubled in Stevens in the fifth inning to supply the final margin of 10-0. In the bottom of the fifth, Thornton struck out the final two batters she faced to wrap up the victory.

Wilkinson finished with a team-high four RBIs on two hits. Stevens was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, with Thornton also collecting two hits and two RBIs.