New Ulm, MN - The MLC baseball team had an exciting and thrilling
6-5 comeback victory over North Central University in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. Game two was high scoring and almost featured another MLC come-from-behind victory, but the Rams held on in the ninth this time to beat MLC
12-11.
Game 2 MLC 6, NCU 5
All six runs came in the bottom half of the ninth for the Knights, who flipped the result this time around in favor of MLC in the late innings. The Knights trailed 5-0 heading into the ninth and recorded five hits in the inning.
Parker Winghart got the rally started with a lead off double, giving life to the MLC offense.
Carlos Walta brought Winghart in with an RBI single to centerfield and the Knights were on the board. From there, MLC scored three consecutive runs with no outs and the bases loaded courtesy of a
Mark Vogel RBI single, a wild pitch, and an RBI single from
Ethan Melso to make it 5-4.
After another North Central pitching change, MLC tied it 5-5 with an RBI bunt single by
John Westendorf, and then the Knights sealed the comeback with a 2-out walk taken by Walta for the 6-5 win.
Aidan Berg earned the win on the mound for the Knights and pitched a complete game for MLC. Early in the first inning, Berg broke the MLC single-season strikeout record previously held by
Zach Pudlo (66, 2009). Berg matched a career high with 12 K's and now has 78 strikeouts this season. The sophomore had the North Central batters guessing all game long and gave up five runs (0 earned runs).
Winghart also broke the MLC career doubles record with his 37th double at MLC. The previous record was 36, set by
Caleb Christopher (2017-20).
Game 2 NCU 12, MLC 11
Game two was very close to another big comeback for MLC. North Central took an 8-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth frame, but the Knights chipped away at the deficit by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth, which included a 3-run homer by Winghart to right field to make it 8-5.Â
The Rams answered with two more runs in the top of the seventh, but MLC had a similar response when Winghart hit another 3-run home run. Vogel made it 10-9 with an RBI la single later in the inning.
From there, both teams would each put up two runs in the eighth inning, and MLC had a chance to tie or walk it off again, down 12-11 in the ninth. However, the Rams closed it out and recorded three outs to avoid the sweep.
Jackson Anderson broke a third MLC record on the day by stealing his 16th base of the season. Anderson passed Joel Heckendorf's record of 15 stolen bases in 1996.
Winghart finished the game with six RBI and had a lot of action at shortstop with seven assists. Westendorf led the team with four runs scored, while Walta had two RBI and doubles in the game, and Berg belted a solo home run in the second inning.
MLC takes two out of three against the Rams in their final UMAC series of the season. The Knights finish out the 2026 season with a doubleheader at Carleton on Tuesday, May 5, at 2:30 p.m.
