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 two.

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 tomorrow (Saturday, March 7) 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.