Auburndale, FL - MLC baseball opened its annual spring break trip to Central Florida with a doubleheader against Fitchburg State University out of Massachusetts on Monday. MLC secured the split by beating the Falcons 6-3 in the second contest of the day. Game one went to Fitchburg State 9-5.

Game 2 MLC 6, Fitchburg State 3

After leaving game one due to a broken nose, Parker Winghart bounced back with a big performance at the plate in game two of the doubleheader, going 3-4 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored. The junior was a double shy of the cycle, and he put the Knights on the board in the top of the fifth when he brought in Mark Vogel on an RBI triple. MLC scored another run to go up 2-1 and then made it 3-1 on Winghart's RBI single in the sixth frame.

Fitchburg State scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie it 3-3, but the game wouldn't be tied for long as Winghart belted a 2-run homer in the eighth to guide MLC to a split with the Falcons. Vogel matched Winghart with two runs scored, and John Westendorf finished with one RBI.

Aidan Berg went the distance (8 innings) and only allowed three runs on 5 hits. Berg also tossed a career high in strikeouts (12), keeping the Falcons guessing throughout the contest.

Game 1 Fitchburg State 9, MLC 5

Fitchburg State had big first and third innings, scoring five runs in the top of the first and four more in the top of the third. The Falcons put together seven of their 10 hits in the game within those pair of innings.

With Fitchburg State up 9-3 through three frames, the Falcons never trailed again for a 9-5 win. 

Despite the loss, Carlos Walta and Jackson Anderson went yard as Walta and Anderson both hit 2-run homers in the third and sixth innings, respectively. Winghart and Logan Gray-Ives scored a run apiece.

MLC plays Gordon College on Tuesday, March 11, in a doubleheader in Florida starting at 10:15 a.m.