Maple Grove, MN - The MLC baseball team fell to North Central 12-6 in an offensive affair on Good Friday.

The Knights took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second and held onto it for a few innings until the Rams tied it up 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth. At that point, game one of the series featured a low-scoring pitcher's game, but North Central broke things open with a big five-run bottom of the fifth to make it 6-1 in their favor.

The following inning, the Rams extended their lead to 9-1 and then took a 12-3 lead following a pair of MLC runs in the top of the seventh.

MLC did get the bats going in the later stages of the game off of the Rams' bullpen, especially when they scored three additional runs in the top of the eighth frame, but it wouldn't be enough as North Central claimed game one and did so with a 14-11 advantage in hits.

North Central gained a good outing from its starting pitcher, Cardiff Smith, who held the Knights to three runs in seven innings.

Alex Ritter had a good day at the plate in the cleanup spot in the lineup, leading MLC in runs scored (3) and tied for most hits (3). Jackson Anderson also recorded three hits to lead the team and brought in a run, while Sam Rodriguez finished with two hits.

MLC will play the remainder of the series with North Central in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 19.