AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Wartburg baseball team (1-3 overall) fell 8-3 to Gwynedd Mercy (4-5) on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Wartburg jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Manny Jeffery (Marion) singled, bringing in freshman infielder Jarod Harris (Manchester). Gwynedd responded with a two-run first inning to leap out to a 2-1 lead.
 
Three innings passed before Warburg tied the game up at two a piece at the top of the fifth after sophomore Adam Sacia (Eldridge) scored an unearned run.
 
Starting pitcher Tony Rex (Oelwein) threw for six innings before being subbed out for freshman Aaron Eybers (Sioux City). The tie that Rex had left on the board quickly vanished as Eybers surrendered a five-run seventh inning that saw the Knights give up two errors as Gwynedd Mercy jumped out to a 7-2 lead.
 
Gwynedd pitched a scoreless top of the eighth, before adding their final run of the day to take an 8-2 lead heading into the top of the ninth. Speedster JoJo McNair (Joliet, Ill.) reached second base by fielder's choice, before Harris singled and brought McNair home to trim the lead to 8-3. Sophomore infielder Parker Ridge (Marion) grounded out to second base to end the inning and the hopes of a comeback as the Knights fell 8-3.
 
Wartburg will continue its Spring Break tournament on Friday when they face Saint Joseph's College of Maine. Start time is at 9:15 a.m.