MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team won their series with North Central University on Saturday by splitting a doubleheader with the Rams. North Central took the first game of the afternoon, 13-10, in 10 innings. Coming back under the Chizek Field lights, the Cougars rallied late for a 9-7 victory.

Minnesota Morris finishes out the 2024 campaign with an overall record of 13-23, including an 8-13 mark in the UMAC. 

Game 1: North Central 13, Minnesota Morris 10 (10 innings)
After trailing, 5-0, heading into the bottom of the third, Minnesota Morris scored nine unanswered and looked to be in the driver's seat until North Central forced it to extras with a late rally. The Rams then scored three times in the top of the 10th inning to wrap up the victory.

Scoring at least one run in each of the first three innings, North Central set the tone for the day after receiving a 21-4 shellacking from the Cougars the day before. Minnesota Morris proceeded to score in five straight innings starting in the bottom of the third when James Nelson doubled home Tyler Moriarty and Ben Meuser singled in Nelson. 

Breckin Silvain entered in the fourth inning and put North Central down in order, getting the Cougar bats back to the plate. Moriarty drove in Dane Mammenga on a fielder's choice grounder to make it 5-3 and Mammenga then doubled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to drive home Meuser and Ethan Schmitz, knotting things up at 5-5.

The Cougar bats kept rolling in the sixth with an Ashton Pauly RBI double to score Keegan Jonas and give them their first lead of the day. The margin grew to 8-5 on a Landen Meyerdirk double in the seventh that brought D. Mammenga and Schmitz home, followed by a Moriarty RBI single that increased the lead to 9-5.

The Rams got back into it in the eighth, collecting three straight singles to load the bases before consecutive doubles with one out in the inning brought four runs home and tied it at 9-9. In the ninth inning, North Central would take the lead on a RBI single from Chris Garza and take a 10-9 edge into the bottom of the ninth. Minnesota Morris was down to its final out when Jonas connected on a solo home run that tied the score at 10-10 and forced extras.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, North Central's Julian Encinas hit a two-run shot in the top of the 10th inning and the Rams would tack on an insurance run later in the frame. Minnesota Morris went down in order to end the first game of the day.

Silvain struck out five in 5.0 innings of relief while Brady Kenning (2-2) took the loss on the hill. D. Mammenga had a 4-for-5 game, with Meuser, Meyerdirk, Jonas, and Moriarty all adding two hits apiece.

Game 2: Minnesota Morris 9, North Central 7
A pitcher's duel for the first six innings changed drastically once the bullpens got involved late in the game. Ryan McGie struck out 12 North Central hitters in 6.0 innings of work and didn't give up any runs until the sixth inning. Nick Julian managed to outdo McGie's excellent performance however, striking out 15 Cougar hitters in 6.0 innings and keeping Minnesota Morris off the board while giving up just two hits.

With two down and nobody on for North Central in the sixth, the Rams suddenly cobbled together three straight singles to score a run, then added another on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

When North Central went to its pen in the seventh, all of Julian's work fell away. Minnesota Morris used two walks and wild pitches to put runners in scoring position with no one out and Meuser drove in the first Cougar run on a sac fly to cut the deficit in half, 2-1. Later in the inning, the bases were loaded for Owen Dylong and his single back up the middle scored two and put UMN Morris on top. McGie then helped the pitching staff out with a RBI single of his own, making it 4-2. 

Two hits, a Minnesota Morris error, a hit batter, and two walks all combined to allow North Central to score four runs in the eighth inning and take a 6-4 lead on the Cougars. With one away in the bottom of the eighth, Minnesota Morris was down to its final five outs when Moriarty doubled in Meyerdirk and Pauly singled home Meuser to knot it up at 6-6. As the inning continued, Dylong hit the go-ahead single and McGie doubled in two more to give the Cougars a 9-6 edge.

With Cole Mammenga on for the ninth, North Central put runners on the corners before a 6-4-3 double play helped end the threat. Mammenga then got Garza looking with a punchout to pick up his first save of the year.

Trevor Mong (2-1) got the win by finishing off the eighth inning on the mound. Dylong went 3-for-3 in the game with three RBIs, while McGie and Moriarty each had two hits.