NEW ULM, Minn. - Kicking off another weekend of conference play, the University of Minnesota Morris defeated Martin Luther College in a seven-inning victory. The Cougars move to 7-3 in UMAC play, and will finish out their series against the Knights Apr. 12 with a doubleheader starting at 1 pm.

The game got off to a slow start for both teams before Minnesota Morris cracked open the scoring in the third inning with runs from Tyler Moriarty, Ashton Pauly, and Trevor Haberman to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Cougar defense put up a three-batter inning, and the offense took the field to score three more runs in the fourth. Peyton Neadeau, Moriarty, and Bradie Black picked up the runs in quick succession. Martin Luther responded with their first two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth, but the Cougars still maintained a commanding 6-2 lead. Ethan Schmitz scored his first run of the game in the fifth inning which went unanswered by the Knights until the bottom of the sixth. 

Up by a dominant 7-3 scoring gap, the Cougars' batters got to work in the top of the seventh, totaling up six hits and six runs to invoke the mercy rule. Schmitz kicked things off with his second run of the day, quickly followed by Pauly. Black worked his way around the bases to score the 11th run of the day. Haberman made a commanding statement to end the game with a homerun that brought in David Steffen to score and pushed Minnesota Morris' lead to 10. Making quick with the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars stood atop a 13-3 lead at the end of the matchup.

Pauly and Haberman both went 3-4 at the plate while scoring two runs to lead the Cougar offense. Haberman also totaled up four RBIs on the day and the lone home run of the day. Moriarty made his way around the bases for three runs while Black led the team with three stolen bases. The pitching duo of Josh Osten (W) and Breckin Silvain totaled up six strikeouts, nine flyouts, and five groundouts to lead Minnesota Morris from the mound.