NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College offense got into a groove as the Knights split a doubleheader at Minnesota Morris on Monday. The Knights won the opener 16-10, but lost game two 10-8 in six innings after the game was called due to darkness. 

MLC 16, UMM 10

The Knights held off the Cougars for a 16-10 win in a game-one slugfest.

MLC scored in six of the seven innings, but did much of its damage in a 10-run third inning that gave the Knights a 12-2 lead. MLC batted around and sent 14 total hitters to the plate, with the first 11 batters reaching base (eight hits, one walk, one hit-by-pitch, and one error). All nine players in the Knights' line-up scored a run in the inning. 

The Cougars tried to claw their way back with four runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth inning, but MLC added four insurance runs in the final innings to secure its first win of the season.

All nine players in the MLC line-up recorded at least one hit and one run, and eight of the nine players had at least one run batted in (RBI). Jordyn Heckendorf, Kylie Wolf, Brett Burger and Lexi Fischer each finished with three hits. Heckendorf also led the team with three RBI and three runs scored. Lisa Hoffer, Samantha Schoch and Halley Engelbrecht each had two hits for the Knights.

Burger (1-3) earned her first career win on the mound after throwing a complete game. She allowed 10 runs while striking out a career-best nine batters. 

UMM 10, MLC 8 (six innings)

The two teams continued to slug it out in game two, and the Cougars emerged victorious by a score of 10-8 before the game was called in the sixth inning due to darkness.

The Knights built an early four-run lead thanks to an RBI triple by Fischer and a three-run double by Wolf, but the Cougars came back with five runs in the third inning to take the lead. 

After the teams traded runs in the fourth, UMM took the lead for good thanks to a four-run fifth inning. MLC cut the four-run deficit in half thanks to a two-run single by Heckendorf in the top of the sixth inning, but the Cougars recorded the final two outs to secure the win.

Both teams finished with 11 hits in the game, and Emma Berg led MLC with three hits and three runs scored. Hoffer and Heckendorf each drove in two, while Burger finished with a pair of hits to go with two runs scored. 

Burger (1-4) took the loss in relief, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits. Megan Pung started the game on the mound for the Knights and allowed five runs on seven hits in three innings. 

MLC moved to 1-7 on the season and 1-3 in UMAC play following the split. UMM is now 5-11 overall and 1-1 in league play.

The Knights will return to action on Thursday, April 8, when they host UMM in a non-conference doubleheader scheduled to start at 2 p.m.