COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris baseball team was defeated by St. John's University in its final game of the regular season, 11-5, Monday evening in Collegeville, Minn. Senior
Bradie Black hit his sixth home run of the season in the loss.
To lead off the second inning,
Ryan McGie singled to left field for the first Cougar hit of the game. With two outs,
Blake Imhoff drew a walk, but the pair of runners were left stranded.
Two innings later,
Kellan Oligmueller singled up the middle, and Auggie Goethals was hit by a pitch to put two on with no outs. Imhoff laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners.
Fred Huebner drove in the opening run with an RBI single, and Goethals made it 2-0 after scoring on a wild pitch.
The Johnnies scored one run in the fifth and took the lead in the sixth after pushing three more runs across the plate.
Bradie Black pulled the Cougars within one with a leadoff home run in the seventh inning, but SJU regained its two-run lead in the bottom of the inning.
In the eighth,
Grayson Van Nelson reached on a dropped third strike.
Blake Imhoff singled to left field, allowing pinch runner
Mason Imhoff to advance to third. Huebner drove in another run with a single, but the Cougars' scoring stopped there as a double play ended the inning.
The Johnnies pulled away in the eighth inning, scoring six runs. The Cougars added a run in the top of the ninth on an Oligmueller RBI single but fell 11-5.
UMM totaled 10 hits in the contest, with McGie, Oligmueller, and Huebner leading the team with two each. Black had the team's only extra-base hit with his home run. Huebner led the team with two RBIs, while Black scored twice.
Tyler Moriarty and Traeyvn Brown each had a stolen base.
Seven Cougar pitchers entered the game.
Johnny Lopez and
Zach Anderson pitched the first four innings without allowing a run.
Juna Bess recorded a pair of strikeouts in one inning of work.
The Cougars will begin play in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday as they take on Bethany Lutheran College at 6:30 p.m.
