Courtesy of MLC Sports Information Department

Women’s softball

NAPLES, Fla. — The Martin Luther College softball team opened its Florida trip with a pair of wins on Friday. The Knights defeated Albion 9-5 in the opener before topping SUNY Delhi 12-6 in Game 2.

MLC 9, Albion 5

The Knights overcame a four-run deficit to defeat Albion 9-5 in game one Friday morning.

MLC 5-1 after four innings when it exploded for five runs in the top of the fifth frame. Rebecca Doering, Brittany Denn, Elena Hoffman and Kelsey Birschbach started the rally with four straight hits, and Kylie Wolf recorded the big hit in the form of a three-run home run to give MLC a 6-5 lead.

The Knights would tack on three insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning thanks to RBI hits from Doering and Mykenna Schneiter.

Rebecca Pruss (1-1) earned her first win of the season on the mound after allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out seven in a complete game effort. Wolf led the Knights at the plate with four hits in four at bats to go with four runs batted in.

MLC 12, SUNY Delhi 6

Sophomore first baseman Elena Hoffman smashed three home runs as the Knights finished the Friday sweep with a 12-6 win over SUNY Delhi.

Hoffman opened the scoring with a three-run homer in the first inning, and then added a solo shot in the fourth. To cap off her career day, Hoffman hit a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning to push the Knights’ lead to 12-4. She finished 4-5 at the plate for the game and drove in nine of the team’s 12 runs. After tying the MLC single-season record for home runs last season eight, her three home runs pushed her into a tie for second place in program history with 11 career homers.

Samantha Schoch joined in the fun in the fourth inning, going back-to-back with Hoffman following her solo home run that inning. Denn also added solo home run in the sixth inning.

MLC finished the game with 20 total hits, including four from Doering and three from Kylie Wolf.

Morgan Palubicki (1-1) scored the win on the mound for the Knights after allowing six runs on 11 hits while striking out three batters in 7.0 innings.

MLC improved to 2-2 on the season with the sweep, and will return to action on Saturday in Fort Myers, Florida. The Knights will play the US Coast Guard at 11 a.m., followed by a game against Finlandia at 1 p.m.

Men’s baseball

AUBURNDALE, Fla. –The MLC baseball team opened the 2020 season with a pair of close defeats to Wartburg College by the scores of 5-3 and 4-3 on Friday.

Wartburg 5, MLC 3

Wartburg came back from a three-run deficit to take Game 1 5-3.

Adam Kock singled home Aaron Roeseler to open the scoring in the first inning, and the Knights added two more runs in the third following a Caleb Christopher single to take a 3-0 lead.

Wartburg came back to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning off MLC starter Andrew Mantz (0-1), and then scored one run in each of the next three innings on the way to the 5-3 win.

Mantz went the distance for the Knights in his debut, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits while striking out two.

Roeseler led MLC at the plate with two hits, two runs scored and one stolen base.

Wartburg 4, MLC 3

MLC could not get the bats going late after a strong start as Wartburg completed the sweep with a 4-3 win in Game 2.

Wartburg built an early 3-1 lead, but MLC tied the game in the bottom of the third inning following an RBI-single by Roeseler and a sacrifice fly from Kock.

The score remained tied until the sixth inning, when Wartburg hit back-to-back doubles off MLC starter Michael Fromm (0-1) to take the lead on the way to the win.

Fromm overcame a slow start to pitch exceptionally well in his season debut. After allowing three runs in the first two frames, Fromm retired 16 of the final 18 batters he faced in a complete game effort. He allowed four runs on only five hits and one walk.

Roeseler finished the game 1-4 at the plate, but scored two runs and stole four bases. Kock finished with a pair of RBI.

MLC fell to 0-2 on the season following the two defeats. Wartburg improved to 8-1 with the sweep.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday when they play Medaille in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.