(Story by: Zach Koenig)
Morris, MN—The University of Minnesota-Morris baseball team broke out the heavy lumber on Saturday, defeating Crown College 17-5 before narrowly losing 10-8.
In the first contest, a few Cougars achieved both personal and historic milestones.
Dan Folie (Jr. Fridley, MN) smacked two doubles in the game and as a result set a record for most doubles in a single season for UMM—16.
Starting pitcher Nik Randall (So. Burnsville, MN) also pitched his third complete game of the season.
The Cougar offense was ready from the get-go, as hits from Matt Peterson (So. Burnsville, MN), Kevin Pope (Sr. Ely, MN), and Nick Hervin (Sr. Cold Spring, MN) were followed by a bases-clearing double from Kirby Marquart (Sr. Hancock, MN) to give UMM a 4-0 lead.
The bats continued to hit in the second inning, as a Pope walk, Hervin single, and Crown error that allowed Greg Roth (Sr. Cold Spring, MN) to reach base all eventually scored on doubles from Folie and Marquart.
Crown scored three times against Randall in the second inning and once in the third, but he then settled down and allowed just one more run for the duration.
UMM scored a single run in the third inning to increase their lead to 8-4, then put up three more runs in the fourth thanks largely to consecutive doubles from Folie, Marquart, and Matt Throngard (So. Grantsburg, WI).
The Cougar offense exploded one final time in the fifth inning, sparked by a lead-off home run from Hervin to left field. When the inning finally ended, the Cougars had collected six runs on four hits and three Crown errors.
Randall (3-2) picked up the win by allowing just six hits and four earned runs in seven innings of work.
The offense was primarily powered by Hervin (3-4, 2 RBI, 2 R), Folie (3-4, 2 RBI, 4 R), and Marquart (4-4, 6 RBI, 2 R).
Also contributing to the offensive onslaught were: Peterson (2-5, 1 R), Pope (1-3, 1 RBI, 2 R), Throngard (1-4, 2 RBI, 2 R), Kyle Blair (Fr. Calgary, Alberta) (1-1), Sean Mooney-Leber (So. Minneapolis, MN) (1-3, 2 R), and Nick Bacon (Fr.) (2-4, 1 RBI).
The second contest saw Minnesota-Morris continue to score runs, but this time struggle on the mound. After four innings, Crown had scored eight runs off UMM pitchers Lee Arvold (Fr. Blaine, MN) and Blair.
The offense, however, began the comeback in the third inning when Roth walked, Folie was hit by a pitch, Marquart singled, and Andy Schuster (So. Alberta, MN) tripled, leading to three runs.
UMM then tied the contest in the fourth with five more runs. Three walks, combined with hits from Roth and Peterson, tied the game at 8-8.
In the top of the fifth inning, however, Crown’s ninth batter homered to give them a 9-8 lead, and then the visitors manufactured a run on a walk, a stolen base, and a single to put the final score at 10-8.
Arvold started the game for UMM, pitching two and two thirds innings and allowing five earned runs on nine hits, but did not get a decision. Blair’s three earned runs in two and a third innings netted him the loss, while Joe Boedigheimer (Jr. Moose Lake, MN) pitched two scoreless innings to close out the ballgame.
Despite scoring eight runs, only four Cougars had hits in the contest: Peterson (1-2, 2 RBI), Roth (1-4, 2 R), Marquart (1-3, 2 RBI), and Schuster (1-3, 2 RBI, 1 R). Hervin and Folie also contributed runs scored via base on balls.
 |  |
| Minnesota-Morris | 17 | 18 | 1 |
| Crown College | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Game 1 |
Box Score
| |
| Minnesota-Morris | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Crown College | 10 | 15 | 1 |
| Game 2 |
Box Score
