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MLC baseball drops 2 games in Florida, softball splits

AUBURNDALE, Fla. — The Martin Luther College baseball team lost both games of its doubleheader to Grove City College by the scores of 11-4 and 2-0 on day two of its annual spring Florida trip.

GCC 11, MLC 4

Two big innings pushed Grove City to an 11-4 win in game one.

MLC starting pitcher Adam Kock (0-1) held the Wolverines to one run through three innings, but GCC exploded for four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to take a commanding 9-0 lead.

The Knights put together a rally in the final inning and scored three runs, but were not able to erase the big deficit.

Kock allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and four walks in 4.1 innings of work before the bullpen trio of Tyler Roecker, Caleb Westra and Branden Mueller finished the game. Andrew Deisinger and Matt Baehman each finished with one hit and one run batted in.

GCC 2, MLC 0

The Knights lost a pitchers’ duel 2-0 to GCC in game two.

Andrew Mantz (0-1) was brilliant in his season debut, holding the Wolverines to only two runs (one each in the third and fifth innings) on four hits in a complete game effort.

The Wolverines had an answer on the mound, however, as Jacob Brothers tossed a one-hit shutout to counter Mantz’s effort. Dillon Solomon’s double in the fifth inning was the one MLC hit on the day, although Roecker reached base twice on a walk and hit by pitch in three plate appearances.

MLC fell to 0-4 on the season following the sweep, while Grove City improved to 6-4 with the two wins.

The Knights will return to action in Florida on Sunday when they play Central in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

Offense Shines in Saturday Split in Florida

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Martin Luther College softball team split its two games in Florida for the second straight day on Saturday. The Knights lost 11-4 to Kenyon College in the morning before topping Alfred State 12-4 in six innings in the afternoon.

Kenyon 11, MLC 4

Kenyon jumped out to a big early lead and never let up as the Knights lost game one 11-4.

Kenyon built a 7-0 lead off MLC starting pitcher Morgan Palubicki (0-5) after 2.5 innings, but the Knights came back to score four times in the bottom of the third frame to cut the deficit to 7-4. MLC sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and took advantage of a pair of Kenyon errors, but left the bases loaded before it could do even more damage.

That would be all the scoring for the Knights, as Kenyon added four more runs in the final four innings to secure the win.

Palubicki went all seven innings in defeat, while Elena Hoffman led the Knights at the plate with two hits to go with one run scored and one run batted in.

MLC 12, Alfred State 4 (6 innings)

The MLC offense came alive in game two as they stopped Alfred State in six innings by the score of 12-4.

Alfred State scored twice in the top of the first inning, but the Knights responded with four in the bottom of the first, and then put the game away with a five-run fifth inning.

Kayla Rosenbaum and Brittany Denn each scored three times and recorded two hits apiece. Kelsey Birschbach finished with two hits, two runs scores and two RBI, while Brett Burger also drove in a pair of runs.

Rebecca Pruss (2-1) started the game and earned the win for the Knights after allowing four runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings.

MLC improved to 2-6 on the season after the split. The Knights will return to action on Sunday in Florida when they face Wilmington (9 a.m.) and RIT (11 a.m.).

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