MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team battled through the elements on Friday afternoon at Chizek Field to handle North Central University, 21-4, in seven innings. The Cougars up their record to 12-22 (7-12 UMAC) on the season.

North Central took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but that would be about the last highlight of the afternoon as Parker Gilchrist (4-2) went 5.0 innings before giving way to Brady Kenning who posted 2.0 scoreless innings to finish things off.

The Minnesota Morris offense tied things up in the bottom of the first on an Ethan Schmitz RBI single that scored James Nelson. In the bottom of the second, Ashton Pauly had the go-ahead double to bring Keegan Jonas home and Ben Meuser followed that with a RBI single that drove in Pauly and Tyler Moriarty.

Already up, 4-1, the Cougars grew the lead in the third inning with RBI singles from Jonas and Nelson. After North Central got back to within three in the top of the fourth inning at 6-3, Jonas, Pauly, and Schmitz again collected RBI base hits and a wild pitch brought another run home as the game ballooned to 10-3.

The teams traded runs in the fifth inning, making it an 11-4 contest as the game moved into the sixth. As the rain began to make its presence felt at Chizek Field, Minnesota Morris unleashed a 10-run inning as the North Central pitching staff lost control of the strike zone. Jonas earned a RBI by being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Meuser later added a second RBI single of the game that brought in two. Ryan McGie and Dane Mammenga added RBIs later in the inning, while the other runs were scored by the Cougars off of wild pitches. 

McGie finished with a game-high three hits on the day, while Pauly, Meuser, Schmitz, and Jonas all had two hits apiece. Meuser led all players in the game with four RBIs, with Jonas adding another three.

Minnesota Morris will conclude the season tomorrow with a doubleheader against North Central back at Chizek Field starting at 2 p.m.