Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College’s John Westendorf slides into home safely after a wild pitch in Game 2 of a nonconference college baseball doubleheader against Maranatha Baptist on Tuesday.

By Travis Rosenau

trosenau@nujournal.com

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College Knights baseball team earned a nonconference doubleheader split against Maranatha Baptist on Tuesday afternoon, holding on for a 4-2 win in Game 1 before dropping Game 2 by a score of 17-11.

Both games were seven innings.

GAME 1

MLC 4,

Maranatha Baptist 2

The opener saw Samuel Rodriguez take the bump for the Knights, finishing all seven innings with six strikeouts and one earned run allowed.

The Knights got on the board in the second inning when Jackson Anderson had a two-run homer to left, scoring Alex Ritter, who singled to lead off the inning. Carlos Walta made it 3-0 in the third when he doubled in Parker Winghart, who was 1 for 1 with a single and two walks in the game.

Maranatha Baptist got a run in the fourth before the Knights took it back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Ethan Melson to score Anderson. The Sabercats got another run in the sixth on an RBI single from Jonathan Jeske, who singled in his team’s first run also in the fourth.

Judson Martin took the loss in Game 1, allowing six hits and three walks for three earned runs while fanning nine.

GAME 2

Maranatha Baptist 17, MLC 11

In a Game 2 that saw the Knights lead 1-0 after John Westendorf scored on a wild pitch in the first inning, the Sabercats jumped ahead 7-1 in the second thanks in large part to a three-run homer from Don Wheeler. The Sabercats scored four more in the third for an 11-1 lead before MLC cut three back in the bottom of the third on a two-run double by Winghart and an RBI groundout from Walta.

The Sabercats got those three runs back in the fifth to lead 14-4 before the Knights scored seven runs in a row to trail 14-11 in the sixth, getting three runs in the fifth and four in the sixth. Jordan Ramirez and Winghart highlighted the big hits in those innings for MVL, with Ramirez tripling in two runs in the fixth and Winghart tripling in two in the sixth.

Maranatha Baptist scored three more runs in the seventh and hung on for the win.

Walta was 2 for 3 with two RBIs to lead MLC at the plate in Game 2, while Melso was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Winghart finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Timothy Wine was 3 for 3 with two RBIs and two walks to lead Maranatha Baptist at the plate in Game 2.

Carter Seltz got the start and took the loss on the mound for MLC, going 1 2/3 innings and allowing seven earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out one.

Teddy Haugen got the win for Maranatha Baptist in 5 1/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and four walks for 11 runs, four earned, while fanning four.

MLC (6-16, 0-9) hosts its first UMAC home series of the season when it hosts Minnesota Morris on Friday. The first game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch.