DAVENPORT, Fla. – A bumpy start to the season continued for the Lakeland University baseball team with a pair of losses to Knox (Ill.) College Wednesday afternoon on the team's spring break trip to Florida.

The Muskies lost the opener to the Prairie Fire 13-3 and then fell by a 2-1 score in the second game. Lakeland is now 0-6 overall on the season and on its trip to central Florida, with one doubleheader remaining on its spring break trip Friday against Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) University.

It felt a bit like Groundhog Day Wednesday as the Muskies followed a script similar to Monday's, when the team lost twice to Fredonia State (N.Y.) University. Lakeland struggled to slow up an opponents' bats in the opening game of the twinbill, but then received strong pitching in a close game in the second before falling behind in the final inning.

Alex Mikula (Jr.-Orland Park, Ill.) made his first start of the season in the second game and went toe-to-toe with Knox starter Nick Henning. Normally a steady reliever for the Muskies, Mikula went all seven innings and allowed five hits and two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts.

The teams went to the final inning tied at 1-1 when Prairie Fire pinch hitter Joseph Williams was hit by a pitch with one out. J.T. Schoessel came on to run for Williams and stole second, and an errant throw allowed him to move to third with one out.

Cole Sheppard then walked, and a wild pitch on the walk allowed Schoessel to score to put Knox (4-4 overall) ahead 2-1. The run would be unearned when Sheppard was picked off first base and Holden Jones struck out to end the inning, but the Muskies were unable to threaten in the bottom of the seventh as Henning struckout the side to end the game, capping a complete game in which he also allowed just five hits and one unearned run with five strikeouts.

Armaan Sharma (Fr.-Pinole, Calif.) grounded out in the fourth inning to score Kellen Hodges (Jr.-Littleton, Colo.), tying the game one inning after Knox had taken a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Andrew Garrett.

Lakeland had a tougher time in the first game, as the Prairie Fire scored three runs in four different innings, including three in the bottom of the first, another in the second for a 4-0 lead and then three each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

Jason Clark, Evan Laws and Etienne Thomas all drove in three runs each, including Thomas hitting a three-run homer in the fourth to make it 7-2, again giving Knox some distance after the Muskies had scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to get back into it. OakLee Spens (Jr.-Burbank, Calif.) scored on a passed ball in the third, and Dylan Costello (Fr.-New Berlin, Wis.) grounded out to second in the fourth to score Griffin Robinson (So.-Pike Road, Ala.) to make it 4-2.

Chris Day (Fr.-Victorville, Calif.) also added an RBI groundout in the sixth to score Tyler LaMack (Sr.-Pewaukee, Wis.). Spens and LaMack both finished with two hits each but the Muskies mustered only six hits total against four Knox pitchers.

Brody Fay (So.-Surprise, Ariz.) took the loss, allowing 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. Anthony Yust (Fr.-Kenosha, Wis.) came on in relief and allowed five hits and three runs in 1 2/3 innings.