The Northland College Softball team dropped a pair of one run games to UM Morris in UMAC play Friday.  The LumberJills fell 5-4 in the opener and 15-14 in the second game.  Northland outhit Morris in both games.
 
Northland took an early 1-0 when they started the game with three straight singles from Kaitlyn Witthun (So., Cambria, Wis.), Jayna Loy (Sr., Ontario, Calif.) and Cassie Baumgarten (So., Becker, Minn.).  Morris tied the game with a run in the second and took a 4-1 lead with two in the third and one in the fourth.  After pulling to within one scoring two runs in the fifth the Jills fell behind 5-3 after the Cougars answered with a run of their own in the bottom half. 
 
Northland staged a rally in the top of the seventh when Brigid Reina (Jr., Garden City N.Y.) and Carolyn Malecha (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.) started the inning with singles.  Crystal Diaz (Fr., Burbank, Calif.) ripped a one out RBI single to pull the Jills within one.  The rally fell short however when Northland hit into a pair of fielder's choices to end the game.  Northland outhit the Cougars 11-7 led by Reina with three hits, Malecha and Averi Kanyuh (Fr., Rapid River, Mich.) each added a pair.
 
The second game was a high scoring affair.  For the fourth straight game Northland scored in the top of the first, notching three runs behind singles by Witthun, Baumgarten, Kanyuh, and Faye Koosmann (So., Mellen, Wis.).  The Cougars tied the game with three of their own in the bottom of the inning.  After Northland picked up a run in the top of the second, Morris took a one run lead with two in the bottom.  The LumberJills had another three run inning in the third behind singles from Baumgarten, Koosmann, Diaz, and Reina. 
 
The Cougars once again took a one run lead 8-7 when they scored three in the bottom of the fourth.  That score remained until the top of the sixth when the Jills exploded for five runs, highlighted by Callie Kopp's bases loaded clearing double.  After Morris scored one in the bottom of the sixth, Northland scored two in the top of the seventh to take a 14-9 lead into the bottom of the seventh.  Morris, however, had one rally left in them scoring six to pull of the 15-14 win.  Northland outhit Morris 20-16 in the game.
 
"Today was a tough day for us." Said Head Coach Steve Wammer, "We outhit them in both games but had some bad luck and dropped two close games.  We are still 8-4 in the UMAC and that isn't a bad place to be.  I am confident we will bounce back next week."
 
Faye Koosmann picked up five hits in the second game, tying a LumberJill single game record that was set by Heather Kinnunen.

Game One Box

Game Two Box