NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College baseball team lost both games of its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference doubleheader against Crown College by the scores of 5-3 and 11-7 on Friday.

Crown 5, MLC 3

Crown scored four times in the fifth inning on the way to winning Game 1 5-3.

The Knights started the scoring with a pair of runs in the third inning on RBI-singles by Caleb Christopher and Jared Lindemann to take a 2-0 lead.

Adam Kock (1-6) cruised through four scoreless innings on the mound for the Knights, but got into trouble in the fifth as the Storm pushed four runs across the plate with two outs thanks to four hits and one walk as they took a 4-2 advantage.

The Knights pulled within one run at 4-3 on a groundout by Joey Behm in the eighth inning, but the Storm added one insurance run in the ninth and closed the game in the ninth to secure the win.

Kock threw a complete game for the Knights, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out six in nine innings. Christopher led the Knights with two hits.

Crown 11, MLC 7

Crown built an early 6-0 lead and held on through a rain storm in the final innings to win Game 2 11-7.

The Storm scored four times in the first two innings off MLC starting pitcher Dillon Solomon (1-6), and then added two more runs in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead.

The MLC bats came to life in the fifth inning as they scored two runs, and then added five runs in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 8-7. Christopher recorded his MLC single-season record 15th double of the season to drive in two in the sixth, while Jonas Lindemann also added an RBI-double in the inning.

The Storm was able to keep the Knights off the board the rest of the way, however, and also added three more runs off reliever Nate Goelzer to secure the sweep.

Solomon allowed six runs on eight hits and five walks in five innings, while Goelzer allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits in four innings of relief.

Behm and Jonas Lindemann each recorded three hits to lead MLC.

The Knights needed to sweep the Storm to keep their hopes of reaching the UMAC Postseason Tournament alive, but fell to 5-26 on the season and 3-11 in UMAC play following the two losses. Crown improved to 16-16 overall and 8-8 in league play with the sweep.

MLC will close the season Saturday when it hosts Northland College in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m.

Track and field

MLC men finish Day 1 of UMAC Outdoor Championships in 4th place

MORRIS — The MLC men finished the first day of the UMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in fourth place on Friday.

The Knights finished the day with 52 total points, just four shy of third-place Minnesota Morris. UW-Superior leads the event with 93 total points, followed by St. Scholastica with 81 points.

Two MLC athletes took first place on the day. First-year runner Micah Otto won the 400 Meter Hurdles in a time of 58.88 to score 10 points.

Joshua Wordell also came away with a first-place showing as he won the Javelin Throw with a top throw of 45.09 meters. That throw was more than two meters better than any other competitor and beat his personal-best by 11 meters.

Benjamin Bitter took second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:55.37, while Ryan Maertz took sixth in that event.

In the 800-meter run, Jacob Melso finished second with a time of 1:59.38. Josiah Loersch took eighth in the 800.

Elsewhere in the track events, Joshuah Kren finished sixth in the 200-meter run to score three points, while MLC added a fifth-place finish in the 4×800-meter relay.

In the field events, Caleb Foelske scored a pair of points in the Javelin with a seventh-place finish, and also finished 11th in the Hammer Throw.

Women finish Day 1in 6th place at UMAC championships

MORRIS — The MLC women finished day one of the UMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in sixth place on Friday.

The Knights finished the first of two days with 19 total points, but trailed fourth-place Northwestern-St. Paul by only 1.5 points. UW-Superior leads the event with 95 points, followed by Minnesota Morris (94 points) and St. Scholastica (80.5) in the top three.

Rebecca Boehlke was the top point-getter for MLC thanks to a third-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 12:34.84.

MLC scored eight more points in the 400-meter hurdles as Emily Dobberstein and Natasha Moreton finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the event. Dobberstein also qualified for the finals in Saturday’s 100-meter hurdles with the seventh-best time.

Elsewhere in the running events, Leah Miller led four Knights in the 800 in 11th place, while Sarah Brooks finished 12th in the 200. MLC also scored two points in the 4×800-meter relay.

Janet Putz led MLC in the field events with a sixth-place finish in the Javelin Throw with a top throw of 23.58 meters to score three points. Josephine Avery led four MLC athletes in the hammer throw in ninth place, while Moreton added a ninth-place finish in the long jump.

MLC will return to action on Day 2 of the UMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday at UMM. The first event kicks off at 11 a.m.