AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Lakeland University baseball team opened its season with a late-innings rally to tie, but the University of Mount Union (Ohio) answered with a run in extra innings and went on to sweep the Muskies in a doubleheader at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational Friday.

The Purple Raiders won the first game 4-3 in nine innings in an originally scheduled seven-inning game, and then came back for a 7-3 win in the second game. Lakeland began its spring break trip by dropping the first two games of 11 games scheduled to be played over a nine-day stretch.

The Muskies came out on the short end in an opener that was dominated by pitching most of the way. Both teams' hurlers combined for 33 strikeouts, and starting pitchers Nathan Hemmerling (Jr.-Riverside, Calif.) of Lakeland and Dwayne Sumler of Mount Union both finished with 12 strikeouts each.

The Purple Raiders (2-3 overall) were the first to reach the other's starter, though, scoring a run in the bottom of the second and two more in the fifth. The Muskies rallied from a 3-0 deficit, though, scoring a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to tie and send the game to extra innings.

Hemmerling got Lakeland on the board with a sacrifice fly after Zak Keegan (Fr.-Frankfort, Ill.) tripled to lead off the sixth. Dylan Penny (Sr.-River Falls, Wis.) then led off the seventh with a single and scored when Kellen Hodges (So.-Littleton, Colo.) followed with an RBI double. Hodges would come all the way around to score on the play after an errant throw by the shortstop, tying the game at 3-3.

The Purple Raiders mounted the game-winning rally in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with nobody out. Joey Nave singled off Tyler Penny (So.-River Falls, Wis.), Coleman Stauffer was hit by a pitch and then John Razzante was intentionally walked to load the bases. Zack Mazza then lifted a fly ball to right field that was deep enough to score pinch runner Andrew Witte with the winning run.

Dylan Penny led the Muskies with two hits and stole a base in the opener. Hemmerling went 6 1/3 innings and allowed seven hits and three runs with 12 strikeouts. Tyler Penny took the loss, allowing one hit and one run with three strikeouts in two innings.

Lakeland played from behind from the start in the second game as Mount Union scored twice in the top of the first with solo home runs by Walker Marlowe and Eric Schilling. The Muskies got a run back in the second when Collin Schutz (Sr.-Saint Amant, La.) singled to score Dylan Penny, but the Purple Raiders stretched the lead with three runs in the fourth and then another in the sixth for a 6-1 lead.

Schutz would provide all the Lakeland offense in the second game, driving in two more runs with an RBI single to score Hodges and OakLee Spens (So.-Burbank, Calif.). The Muskies were held to five hits total in the contest, though, and Mount Union added a final insurance run in the top of the seventh for the final run.

Lakeland plays again Saturday with a doubleheader against Martin Luther (Minn.) College beginning at 10:30 a.m. in Florida, 9:30 a.m. Central time.