NEW ULM, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team executed their weekend sweep to perfection, effectively completing three seven-inning games against Martin Luther College to advance to 9-3 in UMAC play. The Cougars started out the day with an 18-5 victory, and kept things rolling in game two to win 18-7. Cougar baseball totaled up 49 runs over the weekend. Minnesota Morris will head to Bethel University Apr. 14 for a single game at 2:30 pm. 

Minnesota Morris 18, Martin Luther 5 

The Cougars took command of the game early, bringing in 11 runs in the top of the first inning to jump start the scoring. Amidst the seemingly endless scoring, Ryan McGie and David Steffen launched home runs into play to earn three RBIs a piece and clear the bases for the Minnesota Morris offense. Neither team was able to score again until the fifth inning when Trevor Haberman hit the third home run of the day to earn two RBIs and bump up the Cougar lead to 13-0. The Knights responded with a home run of their own immediately after, cutting the gap to ten runs. Determined to keep the scoring spread out, Minnesota Morris brought in four more runs in the sixth inning to post a 17-3 advantage. The scoring rounded out for the Cougars with a run from Ethan Schmitz to secure their 18-3 lead. The two runs put up by Martin Luther was not enough to keep the game going past seven innings. 

Steffen went a perfect 4-4 at the plate for Minnesota Morris, adding on four runs and five RBIs to his stat line. Sitting behind home plate, Keegan Jonas reeled in seven putouts to lead the Cougar defense. Parker Gilchrist (W) and Jacob Tobritzhofer both appeared on the mound for the Cougars and totaled up eight strikeouts, seven flyouts, and six groundouts between the two of them. 

Minnesota Morris 18, Martin Luther 7

Game two got off to a slow start for both teams with Martin Luther being the first to draw blood in the bottom of the fourth. The Cougars responded to the two runs posted by the Knights with seven runs of their own in the top of fifth to take back control of the game. Minnesota Morris scored two more runs in the sixth, which Martin Luther responded to with five runs to find their way back into the game with a 7-9 score. Anxious to put the game away, the Cougars picked things up in the seventh inning, totaling up nine runs to jump out to an 18-7 lead. Schmitz accounted for four of the runs in the inning, launching a grand slam into play and earning four RBIs. Minnesota Morris was quick to put the seventh inning away in four batters, and left the field with an 18-7 lead after seven innings. 

Schmitz led the Cougars at the plate, going a perfect 3-3 while picking up two runs, six RBIs, a home run, and three stolen bases. McGie pitched all seven innings for the Cougars, facing 34 batters on his own and coming away from the day with eight strikeouts, nine flyouts, and five groundouts.