MORRIS, Minn. – Since returning from Florida in late March, the Yellowjacket softball team has been on a roll.
 
Save for a loss to Northwestern last weekend, the Yellowjackets entered Sunday 7-1 in games played after their Florida sojourn, with all of those games coming against Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) foes. Further, dating back to March 13, the Yellowjackets had won 10 of their last 12 games.

But it hasn't always been easy.

That was the case Sunday, as the Yellowjackets made the long trek to Morris to take on the Cougars in a doubleheader. The game, originally scheduled to be played at the Morris Softball Complex, was moved and played on the Morris football field because the softball complex wasn't ready for game play. The weather was representative of anything but favorable softball weather, and the Yellowjackets couldn't shake free of a pesky Morris club. In the end, however, the Yellowjackets persevered and completed the season sweep of the Cougars. The Yellowjackets took the first game 14-7 before holding off Morris 9-7 in the second game.
 
The Yellowjackets (19-5, 9-1 UMAC) remain 1.5 games back of first-place Bethany Lutheran, and are tied with Northwestern for the No. 2 seed in the conference. It just so happens that the Yellowjackets and Northwestern are scheduled to play twice this coming week.
 
Game One
The Yellowjackets jumped on Morris early in this one, getting an RBI single from Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) in the top of the first to make it 1-0. In the bottom of the inning the Cougars came roaring back, scoring four times to take a big lead.
 
It didn't last long, however, as the Yellowjackets put up a three-spot in the top of the second to pull even. MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) hit a shot to center field that hopped the fence for a ground-rule double, scoring two runs to pull the Yellowjackets to within a run. Later in the inning Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) singled through the left side, scoring Leccia to tie the game 4-4.
 
Morris regained the lead in the bottom of the third, but the Yellowjackets pulled in front for good in the top of the fourth, scoring three times to move in front 7-5. Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) started the scoring, squeezing home Leccia to tie the game 5-5. Kraemer followed with a fielder's choice, and an error on the play brought home two more runs to give the 'Jackets the two-run lead.
 
The Yellowjackets tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth. On a strange play, Bryton Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) reached on a fielder's choice then scored on an error on the play. Macal also scored to make it 9-5. Kraemer followed with her second Rbi single of the day, and the 'Jackets were in double digits.
 
Morris got two runs on a home run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Yellowjackets got those two runs back, and then some, in the top of the seventh to close out the scoring. Snyder came in on a sacrifice fly, and Jenna Hoops (Woodbury, Minn./Visitation School) came up next and drove in two more with a single to center field. Hoops then scored the game's final run, making it 14-7, on a single to center field by Izzy Lingle (Enumclaw, Wash./Enumclaw).
 
Kraemer got the start in the circle and survived a rocky first inning to earn the win, moving to 11-4 on the year. She went the distance, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits. She walked one and struck out three.
 
At the plate Kraemer went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in and three runs scored. Hoops and Leccia had two hits and two RBI each.
 
Game Two
In the second game Morris jumped on the Yellowjackets in the bottom of the first, taking a 1-0 lead on a home run.

The 'Jackets answered in the top of the second when Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) hit a home run of her own, going deep over the fence in left for her first of the year, tying the game 1-1.
 
It remained tied until the Yellowjackets blew it open in the top of the fourth. Thomson led off with a single and scored on a one-out double from Macal to break the tie. Two hitters later Samantha Swartz (Antigo, Wis./Antigo) singled to right center, scoring Macal with the third run of the game for the 'Jackets. Leccia's bat stayed hot as she doubled to right field to score Swartz to make it 4-1. Later in the inning, Kraemer singled to center field, bringing home Leccia and Snyder, extending the Yellowjacket lead to 6-1.
 
Morris cut the lead to 6-3 with a home run in the bottom of the fifth.

The Yellowjackets answered with a home run of their own in the top of the seventh, as Leccia went deep for the second time this season, hitting a three-run shot to left to put the 'Jackets up 9-3.
 
Morris wasn't going to go away quietly, however. The Cougars scored a pair of runs off Yellowjacket pitcher Georgia Youngblood (Ray, Mich./Lutheran North) in the bottom of the seventh, to make it a 9-5 game. Yellowjacket head coach Melissa Fracker went to the bullpen and brought Kraemer in to close it down, but the Cougars weren't done.

The first hitter to face the Yellowjacket ace singled to load the bases. The Cougars would then plate two more runs to make it 9-7, and they still had the bases loaded with one out. The Yellowjackets induced a fielder's choice to cut down a run at the plate, and then retired the side on a groundout to preserve the win and the sweep.
 
It was another big game at the plate for Leccia, who went 2-for-4, scored twice and drove in four runs. Macal was 3-for-3, scored twice and also drove in four.
 
Emma Pillion (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) got the start in the circle and earned the win, improving to 4-1 on the year. She pitched four-plus innings and allowed three runs on two hits. Youngblood pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits before giving the ball to Kraemer who pitched the final two-thirds of an inning.
 
The Yellowjackets will get their first chance to play in Superior this Tuesday, when they host Crown College in a UMAC doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.