College baseball

AUBURNDALE, Fla. — The Martin Luther College baseball team lost both its games to Lakeland by the scores of 16-7 and 14-6 in Florida on Saturday.

Lakeland 16, MLC 7

The Muskies used several big innings to propel them to a 16-7 win in game one.

The Knights fell behind early, but cut the deficit to 4-3 thanks to a two-run single by Caleb Heckendorf that scored Andrew Deisinger and Sam Rodriguez in the bottom of the first frame.

Lakeland took control from there, scoring five runs in the next two innings, and then put the game away with a seven-run fifth inning.

Jackson Lindemann (0-1) took the loss for the Knights after pitching the first 2 1/3 innings. Heckendorf and Spencer Lilienthal each recorded a pair of hits, while Zach Klement and Alex Ritter each drove in a pair of runs for the Knights.

Lakeland 14, MLC 6

Lakeland overcame an early deficit with a big third inning on the way to winning Game 2 14-6.

The Knights trailed 2-0 early, but scored three times in the top of the third inning thanks to a two-run double by Lindemann and a Branden Mueller hit by pitch that scored Lindemann to give MLC a 3-2 lead.

The Muskies came back in the bottom half of the inning, however, scoring seven runs to take a 9-3 lead, and then adding five more over the next two frames.

Lindemann finished the day as the Knights’ top hitter with three hits and four runs batted in. Mason Cox added three hits and three runs scored for MLC.

Deisinger (0-1) took the loss after allowing nine runs in 2 1/3 innings.

The Knights fell to 0-4 and will return to action on Sunday when they play Wentworth in a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.

College softball

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The MLC softball team opened its Florida trip with a pair of losses to Elms College by the scores of 21-4 and 11-10 on Saturday.

Elms 21, MLC 4

The Blazers jumped in front with six runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back to take Game 1 21-4.

Elms batted around in the first, third and fourth innings, getting to MLC starting pitcher Madison Uhlenbrauck (0-2) and reliever Lexi Fischer.

Elena Hoffman led MLC at the plate with two RBIs and one hit. Lisa Hoffer added two hits and two runs scored, while Fischer scored one run and recorded one hit.

Elms 11, MLC 10

Game 2 went back and forth, with both teams trading big leads until the Blazers walked the Knights off in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 11-10.

Trailing 5-1 in the third inning, Hoffman hit a grand slam to tie the game 5-5 after Elms scored four times in the second frame. The home run was Hoffman’s first of the season and her MLC-record 18th of her career.

The teams traded scoreless innings until the top of the sixth, when MLC erupted for five runs to take a 10-5 lead. The Knights batted around in the inning, with Hoffer, Hoffman, Hannah Ott, Amelia Thiel and Uhlenbrauck each driving in one run apiece.

The Blazers answered, however, scoring five times in the sixth to tie the game 10-10, and then winning the game with a one-out single in the seventh to secure the sweep.

Hoffman led the MLC bats with six RBIs and two runs scored. Hoffer and Kylie Wolf each recorded a pair of hits.

MLC fell to 0-4 on the season with the two defeats. Elms improved to 2-0 to start its season with the sweep.

The Knights will return to action Sunday when they play Kenyon and Albion.