NEW ULM — While wins have been scarce for the Martin Luther College baseball team this spring, Saturday afternoon offered the perfect opportunity to pick up a victory or two.

Unfortunately for the Knights, they were competitive but unable to pick up a victory as North Central swept the Knights 6-3 and 10-9 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference action at Martin Luther College.

In Game 2, the Knights trailed 10-6 in the bottom of the eighth, but scored a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 10-8.

In the bottom of the ninth, Caleb Heckendorf led off with a double and took third on an error. With nobody out, he scored on a sacrifice fly, but the Rams escaped and retired the side to leave a runner stranded at first. The Rams led 9-1 after three innings, but the Knights scored four times in the fifth, once in the seventh, twice in the eighth, and one more in the ninth.

Mason Cox went 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI for the Knights in the second game. Alex Ritter scored a pair of runs and Andrew Deisinger was 2 for 5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Jackson Lindemann had two RBIs and Heckendorf was 3 for 4 with two runs scored. Reagan Moore also went 2 for 5 in the 14-hit attack.

Carter Seltz took the loss for MLC. He gave up seven runs in two innings, allowing five hits and five walks in the process. Matt Rieger pitched six innings and allowed three runs and 11 hits. He struck out two and walked one.

Tanner Oka earned the win for the Rams. He pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and seven hits. He struck out two.

In the first game, Cox went 2 for 5 with a run scored, an RBI and a double. Bobby Larsen went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Tony Sahatjian finished 3 for 4. The Knights had 10 hits in the game and they scored a single run in the fourth, fifth and ninth innings.

With the game tied 1-1 in the top of the fifth, the Rams scored a pair of runs to go up 3-1. After the Knights answered with a single run in the bottom of the fifth, North Central scored twice in the top of the seventh after Julian Encinas delivered an RBI single. Encinas later scored on wild pitch to make it 5-3.

North Central added one more run in the eighth after Jack Parker singled, which allowed Teyghan Hovland to score after an error in center.

Parker went the distance for the Rams. He allowed 10 hits, three runs, walked three and struck out two.

On the mound, Lindemann saw his record fall to 0-4 for MLC. The starter allowed three runs, six hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out one. Michael Fromm allowed three runs in four relief innings, giving up seven hits in the process. He struck out two and walked one.

MLC (2-18, 2-8) returns to action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday when it hosts Crown.