After dropping the opener 13-6, MLC won Game 2 by a score of 11-2. Both games were seven innings.

GAME 1

MLC fell behind 8-0 in the second inning of Game 1 after starting pitcher Jackson Anderson fell into some early trouble. Carleton collected seven hits and four walks off Anderson, knocking him off the mound after two innings of work.

Anderson wasn’t all to blame for MLC’s early woes as two early errors ended up helping Carleton take that early lead. Anderson was charged with just three earned runs in the loss while striking out two.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College senior Carter Seltz pitches in relief during the first game of a college baseball doubleheader against Carleton on Wednesday afternoon at the MLC Baseball Field.

John Kamps pitched a scoreless third inning for MLC, allowing one hit, while Carter Seltz entered in the fourth and pitched three innings. Seltz allowed five hits and three walks for three earned runs while striking out two. John Westendorf pitched the seventh and allowed one hit and a walk for two earned runs.

Sam Zacks got the win in four innings for Carleton, allowing four hits and a walk for four unearned runs.

After Carleton jumped ahead 3-0 in the second inning, a leadoff walk was followed with an error on a grounder to second, which could have ended up turning into two outs. Back-to-back Carleton singles followed for a 5-0 lead. After a two-run double by John Hurtubise made it 7-0, Anderson hit Andrew Sellers with a pitch, bringing Kamps to the mound to try to get three outs. A sac fly made it 8-0 and Kamps got the next out on a pop out to first baseman Sam Rodriguez before allowing a two-out single and then ending the inning on a flyout to center.

MLC took advantage of a Carleton error to lead off the bottom of the third, allowing Jordan Ramirez to reach first. Mark Vogel then singled Ramirez to second and a sac bunt by Alex Ritter moved both runners up a base. Vogel took third and Ramirez came home after a wild pitch to make it 8-1 before Westendorf walked. Parker Winghart tripled to left to bring home two runs and make it 8-3 before a Carlos Walta groundout scored Westendorf for an 8-4 score.

Carleton scored two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to lead 11-4. Anderson connected with his third home run of the season on a two-run homer to left in the sixth inning to have MLC down 11-6, but Carleton got those two runs back in the seventh for the final score.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College senior Jordan Ramirez throws the ball in from left field during a college baseball doubleheader against Carleton on Wednesday afternoon at the MLC Baseball Field.

Westendorf was 2 for 2 with two walks in the game to lead MLC at the plate, while Rodriguez was 2 for 3.

GAME 2

MLC freshman standout Aidan Berg (3-6) added another win to his season total with another shutout performance in five innings Wednesday. Berg allowed two hits and a walk while striking out six. He recently pitched all nine innings against Northland College in a home doubleheader this past Saturday and didn’t allow a run either in a 5-0 win.

Caleb Carlovsky got the start and pitched two innings in the game for MLC, allowing three hits and a walk for two earned runs while striking out four.

Alex Ritter led MLC in Game 2 at the plate, going 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI.

After Ritter doubled to lead off the bottom of the first in Game 2, Westendorf sac-bunted Ritter to third before Winghart sent a double into right-center to score Ritter. Winghart took third on a wild pitch before Rodriguez walked and Seltz was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Anderson flied out to center to score Winghart to make it 2-0, and while Walta singled to right, Rodriguez was thrown out at home for the final out of the inning.

Zacks doubled to left to score two and tie it up in the second, but MLC got an RBI double from Seltz in the third to quickly take the lead back at 3-2. Ritter tripled to the gap in right-center to make it 4-2 in the fourth before Rodriguez singled in two to make it 6-2.

A Vogel RBI single ignited a five-run fifth inning for MLC that saw it add another run after Westendorf was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Rodriguez and Seltz both took bases-loaded walks to make it 10-2 before Anderson was hit by a pitch for an 11-2 lead.

Berg struck out the side in the sixth and had a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh to complete the doubleheader with a win.

MLC finished its season 9-27 overall, while Carleton finished 12-22.