FORT MYERS, Fla. – Sam Browning drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for Skidmore (N.Y.) College and the Lakeland University baseball team closed its shortened 2020 season with a 7-6 loss to conclude its play at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Games.

The game served as Senior Day for both the Muskies and Thoroughbreds, as both schools announced earlier this week the cancellation of their remaining winter and spring sports seasons. Lakeland found out Friday after its game against Carroll University that the remainder of its season would be canceled in response to the COVID-19 virus, while Skidmore made the same announcement for all of its spring sports teams Thursday.

The Muskies finished their season and spring break trip with a 2-6 record. Lakeland lost its last two games of the trip by a single run and three games in all by one run.

Lakeland appeared on track for its third win of the trip after five innings, building a 6-2 lead by scoring in four straight frames from the second through fifth. Hunter Garling (Jr.-Perkins, Mich.) and Brandon Punzel (Sr.-Escanaba, Mich.) struck the big blows with a pair of two-run doubles in the second and fourth innings, respectively.

Garling doubled to score Nathan Hemmerling (So.-Riverside, Calif.) and Lino Figueroa (Jr-Westchester, Ill.) in the second, and Jack Banks (Sr.-Mountain View, Calif.) put the Muskies ahead in the third with a single to score Tyler LaMack (Fr.-Pewaukee, Wis.). Lakeland then stretched its lead out when Punzel doubled in Garling and Trevor Meier (Sr.-Columbus, Mont.) in the fifth, and the lead grew to 6-2 when Hemmerling singled in Figueroa in the bottom of the fifth.

The Thoroughbreds (6-4 overall) rallied over the final four innings, scoring three times in the sixth and tying it in the seventh on a run-scoring ground out by Ryan Strickland. Skidmore then took the lead in the eighth on Browning's RBI double, and the Muskies were unable to tie it despite threatening in the eighth when they put two runners on before the inning ended on a strikeout.

Hemmerling finished 3-for-3 at the plate and Garling added two hits. Mason Valenstein (So.-Howards Grove, Wis.) also added an RBI single. Collin Schutz (Jr.-Saint Amant, La.) started and allowed six hits and two runs in five innings, striking out six, while Mason Pechy (Sr.-Diamond Bar, Calif.) took the loss allowing three hits and two runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Seniors Tayler Johann (Colleyville, Texas) and Jack Shevalier (Helena, Mont.) also pitched for Lakeland, including Shevalier throwing a 1-2-3 ninth inning.