TOMBALL, Texas – The Celts of the University of St. Thomas salvaged a doubleheader split Friday as they opened play at the UST Celt Classic with two games against the University of Minnesota–Morris.

The visiting Cougars claimed the first game 7-4 in extra innings; the Celts blasted their way to an 11-4 win in the second game.

UST (4-8) returns to action Saturday for two games at Tomball's Premier Baseball, the first of which will be against Minnesota–Morris at 11 a.m. After a game between UMM and Schreiner, the Celts will face Schreiner in the nightcap, scheduled for approximately 5:30 p.m.

GAME ONE: Minnesota–Morris 7, Celts 4 (8 innings)

The Cougars scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning of what was scheduled to be a seven-inning contest to win their season-opener. Evan Benson's two-RBI double with two outs broke the tie.

UST forced the extra frame in the bottom of the seventh when Caleb Edmonds hit a two-run home run that also scored Adam Scharf. It was Edmonds' first home run of the season.

The game-tying home run also gave a no-decision to starting UST pitcher Josh Middleton. The lefthander pitched effectively, striking out nine over six and one-third innings and at one point retiring 12 consecutive batters. Middleton gave up four runs – two of them earned – but was in line for the loss until Edmonds' home run.

UST's Jason Brown knocked an RBI single in the bottom of the first, while Leo Galvan had RBI on a groundout in the fifth. Kyle Bearden scored both of those runs.

GAME TWO: Celts 11, Minnesota–Morris 4

The Celts jumped out to a 9-0 lead after two innings and coasted to the victory.

UST catcher Jackson Rodgers' three-run home run in the bottom of the first highlighted a five-run inning for the Celts. Rodgers also knocked an RBI single during the Celts' four-run second inning.

Hunter Pachal collected two RBIs in the game despite going 0-for-2 at the plate. Galvan and Brown each had two hits with an RBI apiece, while leadoff hitter Noah Martinez went 4-for-4 with two runs scored.

Starting pitcher Ryan Kubosh struck out eight batters over five innings to pick up the win for the Celts. Caleb Desilets and Parker Gregg each struck out three batters in the sixth and seventh inning, respectively.