ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris softball team won two more games on Tuesday afternoon at Crown College, running its win streak to 10 games and leaping into a tie atop the UMAC standings. The 8-0 and 9-4 wins by the Cougars give the program their first 10-game winning streak since late in the 2014 campaign and the team heads into the weekend at 16-9 (6-0 UMAC) on the season.

Minnesota Morris continues with its run of road contests with three games in New Ulm, Minn. on April 12-13 against Martin Luther College. A single game with the Knights to start the series is slated for Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.

Game 1: Minnesota Morris 8, Crown 0 (6 innings)
Scoring runs in five of its six turns at the plate, Minnesota Morris pulled away gradually in the opening game, finishing it off an inning early behind the pitching of Alyssa Thornton (7-3). 

A lead-off walk from Sierra Stevens and a triple from Alice Wilkinson gave Minnesota Morris an immediate 1-0 lead in the first inning. Mary Landherr later added a sac bunt that scored Wilkinson for a 2-0 advantage. The second inning saw the Cougars extend the lead on a Sophie Diver single and a sacrifice fly from Anna Athey to bring her home.

After Thornton struck out the side in the second, Wilkinson led off the third with her second triple of the day and scored on a sacrifice fly from Skyla Bristol to increase the Cougar edge to 4-0. 

The lead grew again in the top of the fifth. Athey led off with a single and scored on a Stevens triple. Next up, Wilkinson contributed another RBI with a single to drive Stevens in and make it 6-0. In the top of the sixth, Minnesota Morris grew its lead to 8-0 on a lead-off double from Tori Nichols and a walk from Anna Baumann that put two aboard for Athey to drive in on a RBI double. A 1-2-3 inning from Thornton finished it off to secure the run-rule victory.

Thornton allowed only five hits in the game and struck out seven. Wilkinson finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Athey was 2-for-2 with three RBIs.

Game 2: Minnesota Morris 9, Crown 4
Though Minnesota Morris left 12 runners stranded in the game, the offense still did enough to build a lead and hang on in the late innings to complete the three-game sweep of the Polars. 

In the top of the first, Stevens started the game with a double and a Crown error with Wilkinson at the plate allowed Stevens to come home. Landherr added a RBI two batters later as Wilkinson made it 2-0.

With Athey aboard in the second, Stevens' second double of the contest made it 3-0. The score would stay there until the top of the fifth. Landherr led off that frame with a single and advanced on an error. Thornton put herself aboard with a single and both runners scored off of doubles from Nichols and Olivia Diver. Stevens later added a sacrifice fly that upped the lead to 6-0. 

Bristol (8-1) ran into real trouble for the first time in the bottom of the fifth as two Crown hits and three walks played a part in the Polars cutting the Minnesota Morris lead in half, 6-3. Her single to lead off the top of the sixth helped right the ship, with the first three Cougar batters of the inning reaching base before a Nichols sacrifice fly and another run scoring on an error to push the margin back to 8-3.

Some control issues continued to nag Bristol in the bottom of the sixth, but Morgan Wilhelm entered in relief and the lone Crown run to score with the bases loaded and no one out came on an error that left the score 8-4 in favor of Minnesota Morris. A Landherr RBI double drove in Wilhelm in the top of the seventh and the Cougar sophomore pitcher finished things off in the bottom of the seventh, leaving two Polar runners stranded.

Thornton finished the game 4-for-4 at the plate with a walk and a run scored. Stevens, Landherr, Nichols, and Olivia Diver all had two hits apiece. Bristol struck out eight in her 5.0 innings of work.