MANKATO, Minn. – It was just a few weeks ago that the Yellowjacket softball team was swept in a three-game series on the road at Minnesota Morris, a weekend where the offense, then among the most potent in all of NCAA Division III, totaled just five runs.
 
Things were a little different, and there was more on the line, when the teams met for the fourth time in 2024 Thursday afternoon.

The Yellowjackets entered the day as the No. 3 seed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) tournament, while Minnesota Morris was the No. 2 seed, with the seedings falling the way they did largely because of the result of the regular season series between the teams.
 
Well, if you're near a window, feel free to throw the regular season series, and all that went with it out the window.

The Yellowjacket offense struck early and often, scoring more runs Thursday than they did in all three games at Morris last month, and the pitching and defense held off a late Morris charge. The result was a mild upset, with the Yellowjackets winning the UMAC opener 6-4 at Thomas Park.
 
With the win the Yellowjackets improved to 24-13 on the year.

The 'Jackets scored three times in the top of the first and led 6-0 after the top of the fourth inning before Morris put a dent in the lead with a three-run fifth.
 
Carly Stuckmayer (Delano, Minn./Delano Senior) had a pair of hits and scored twice, while Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) scored three times to pace the Yellowjacket offense.
 
Bella Garley (Albuquerque, N.M./Porter (Tex.)) started in the circle and got the win, allowing three hits (two earned) to go along with four walks and two strikeouts in 4.1 innings. She is now 10-6 on the year.
 
Game Notes

• The 'Jackets loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the first and got runs on a sacrifice flies by Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) and Garley sandwiched around an RBI double by Indigo Fish (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior).
• Stuckmayer reached on an error in the second and came home on Snyder's double to left. Snyder would then score on Macal's second sacrifice fly of the game to put the UWS up 5-0.
• Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) plated the final run for the Yellowjackets, doubling to left to score Snyder.
• Morris sent eight hitters to the plate in the fifth, scoring three times to cut the Yellowjacket lead in half.
• Morris threatened again in the seventh, scoring a run and getting the tying run to the plate, but the Yellowjackets worked out of the jam to earn the win.
• Stuckmayer, Fish and MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) all had two hits to pace the 10-hit Yellowjacket attack.
• Samantha Swartz (Antigo, Wis./Antigo) came on in relief of Garley in the fifth inning and allowed a run on three hits in 2.2 innings to earn her first save of the year.

The Yellowjackets now advance to the UMAC semifinals with the win, where they will face top-seeded Behany Lutheran. The first pitch of semifinal is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at Thomas Park.
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