MORRIS, Minn. – Friday's baseball doubleheader between the University of Northwestern and the University of Minnesota Morris couldn't have featured more different results as the two teams split the twin bill with Saturday's 12 p.m. game set up as series finale in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) series. The Eagles, who were late to Morris due to a bus issue on Friday morning, were 10-run ruled in an 11-1, seven-inning final in Game 1 before doing an about-face in Game 2 that had UNW winning 12-0 in another shortened contest due to the same run rule.

Northwestern watched the host-Cougars put up seven runs throughout the first three innings of the day's first game before scoring its own lone run of the game in the top of the fourth. John Hietpas (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) singled to start the frame and ultimately scored on Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School)'s sacrifice fly to right center. That would be all UNW could muster for runs though as Morris resumed its scoring with a four-run fifth inning.

The Eagles' Connor Olson (Mahtomedi, Minn/Mahtomedi) was roughed up for 10 hits while being credited with seven earned runs in a four and two-thirds innings appearance in the senior's shortest start of the season. Corban Halbur (Richfield, Minn./Richfield) came in to pitch the final inning and a third, forcing all four batters he faced into outs. Northwestern didn't get much help from its defense, which collectively committed six errors. Meanwhile, Michael Dockendorf was very successful on the hill for Morris as he held Northwestern to just three hits, striking out six along the way.

While the final score had UNW on top 12-0, Northwestern didn't exactly pour on the runs in the second game until the seventh inning, when the Eagles put 10 runs on the board. Hietpas got things started in the third with a sacrifice hit to right field that scored Tucker Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) before Matt Doss (Pillager, Minn./Pillager)'s two-out triple in the fourth brought in Ryan Sutterer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka ) from second base.

Troy Nelson (Buena Park, Calif. /Buena Park) was busy mowing down the Cougar hitters from the mound, allowing two hits through six innings. Then came the big seventh frame, when Northwestern batted 14 guys and went through four Morris pitchers in the process. Doss, Tyler Osborn (Clive, Iowa/Des Moines Christian), and Ryan Sutterer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka ) all had multiple-base hits in the frame, with Sutterer's three-run over the left field fence being the highlight.

Nelson then worked a hitless seventh to finish the blowout win in what was a tale of extreme opposite games.

Braxton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with both an RBI and a run scored. Both Doss and Taylor MacMurray went 2-for-3, combining for three runs scored.

Saturday's rubber match will be key for Northwestern as the Eagles (15-13, 9-5 UMAC) try to maintain second place in the league standings with Bethany Lutheran College nipping at their heels. Morris, too, is trying to hang on to a hypothetical playoff spot as a top-four team. Historically, UNW head coach Dave Hieb has gone to Tucker Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) as his Game 3 starter on UMAC weekends, a trend that very well could continue tomorrow.