WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to St. Joseph's College, 9-1 and 3-2, with the second game ending in extra innings Saturday in Winter Haven, Fla.
Game 1
Saint Joseph's took the lead in the bottom of the first after a one-run inning. Kellen Oligmueller pitched a one-two-three second inning to keep the deficit at one.
Tyler Moriarty had the first Cougar hit in the top of the third and then stole second to get into scoring position.
Landen Meyerdirk followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but the inning ended after he was thrown out trying to steal second. The Cougars turned a double play to end the third inning, keeping the score at 1-0.
The Monks pushed their lead to 4-0 after four innings. The next inning, the Cougars got some momentum starting with a walk by
Peyton Neadeau, who then advanced to second on a passed ball.
Caleb Walker drove him in with a single. St. Joseph's then broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning to lead 9-1. St. Joseph's would hold the lead to take game one.
UMM tallied five hits, all from different student-athletes: Moriarty, Meyerdirk,
Ben Meuser, Trever Haberman, and Walker.
Peyton Neadeau drew two walks in the contest. On the mound, Oligmueller pitched four innings with one strikeout and gave up four earned runs. Emmett Cambell and
Tim Buckles pitched the final two innings.
Game 2
The Monks started game two with a one-run first inning to take an early lead. Meyerdirk doubled in the bottom of the first and then stole third as the tying run but was left on base.
After a leadoff single by SJC,
Johnny Lopez retired the next three batters. St. Joseph's loaded the bases in the third, but Lopez forced a fly out to Moriarty in left field to get out of the jam. The Cougars had three straight singles from Moriarty, Meyerdirk, and
Ben Meuser to tie the game at 1-1.
The following four innings were a pitchers' duel, with neither team allowing another run to score. Lopez went 6.2 innings with
Luke McHugh recording the final out of the seventh. Minnesota Morris had a chance to walk the game off in the seventh with Moriarty reaching on an error and Meyerdirk singling, but the runners were left stranded.
The scheduled seven-inning game continued into the eighth inning. The Monks scored twice to regain the lead in extra innings. After the first two batters went down for UMM, the Cougars started to make some noise.
Peyton Neadeau drew a walk, then
Grayson Van Nelson was hit by a pitch.
Blake Imhoff entered the game as a pinch hitter and singled to score a run. The rally stopped there as a fly out ended the game 3-2 in favor of St. Joseph's.
The Cougars outhit the Monks 10-7, with Meyerdirk leading the team with three hits, including two singles and a double. Along with the 10 hits, UMM drew three walks. Imhoff and Meuser each recorded an RBI, while Moriarty and Neadeau scored a run.
On the mound, Lopez pitched 6.2 innings, striking out two batters, walking three, and giving up only one earned run. McHugh pitched the final 1.1 innings, giving up two hits and two earned runs.
The Cougars continue play down in Florida tomorrow (Sunday) with a 1:15 p.m. game against Principia College.
