WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The Martin Luther College baseball team ended its annual Florida trip on a high note with a pair of wins over Penn State-Brandywin by the scores of 5-3 and 12-0 on Tuesday.

MLC 5, PSU 3

The Knights earned their first win of the season by the score of 5-3 over the Lions.

Dillon Solomon (1-1) earned the win with a complete game effort, allowing three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out three in seven innings of work.

The Knights scored all five runs in the first two innings. MLC jumped on the board thanks to a PSU error, and then added four more runs in the second inning thanks to a two-run single by Tyler Roecker, followed by a two-run double from Jared Lindemann.

Solomon ran into trouble in the third inning when the Lions scored all three runs, but got back into the groove to finish the game with four straight scoreless frames.

Lindemann and Roecker each finished with a pair of hits to lead the Knights.

MLC 12, PSU 0

MLC finished off the sweep with a 12-0 game-two win in five innings.

The Knights jumped all over the Lions from the start and scored at least two runs in each of their five times at the plate. MLC finished with 13 hits to go with seven walks in the game. Roecker and Caleb Christopher each recorded three hits. Roecker finished with four RBIs, while Christopher and Lindemann combined for five RBI.

Matt Baehman (1-1) earned the win. He threw all five innings and held the Lions to only three hits and two walks while striking out five batters in the shutout win.

MLC improved to 2-6 on the season with the two wins.

MLC softball loses twice

TITUSVILLE, Fla. –The Martin Luther College softball team opened its season with a pair of losses on Tuesday. The Knights lost to Benedictine (Kan.) 13-4 Tuesday morning before falling 9-2 against Carlow in the afternoon.

Benedictine 13, MLC 4

The Knights dropped their season-opener 13-4 against Benedictine down in Floriday.

Benedictine jumped on top early with nine runs in the first three frames off MLC starting pitcher Morgan Palubicki (0-1). Palubicki pitched the first four innings for MLC and took the loss after allowing nine runs (seven earned) on 11 hits.

The Knights got the offense going in the middle innings, scoring once in the fourth inning and twice more in the fifth, but the Ravens put the game away with four insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning to secure the win.

Jodi Halvorson and Samantha Schoch each finished with three hits for the Knights. Rebecca Doering finished with a pair of hits, while Halvorson scored two runs.

Carlow 9, MLC 2

MLC dropped its second game of the day to Carlow by the score of 9-2.

The Celtics led 4-2 after three innings, but put the game away with a five-run fourth inning off Rebecca Pruss (0-1), who started the game for the Knights.

Pruss allowed all nine runs on 14 hits in four innings before giving way to Palubicki, who finished the game in relief with a pair of scoreless innings.

Audrey Timm led MLC with two hits, including an RBI single in the third inning that tied the score at 2-2 at the time.

MLC fell to 0-2 on the season with the two losses.

The Knights will return to action Wednesday for two more games. MLC will face Shawnee State in a game scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time, followed by a 4 p.m. game against Rochester College.