LINCOLN, Neb. - Wartburg baseball suffered back-to-back defeats on Friday, April 2 against Nebraska Wesleyan during the first day of the weekend series at Woods Park. The Knights were upended 7-6 in game one and then suffered a 14-4 loss in the second contest. 

The Orange & Black (6-10, 4-6 A-R-C) will return to Woods Park tomorrow, April 3 for another doubleheader matchup against the Prairie Wolves (4-12. 2-8 A-R-C) that is set to begin at 1 p.m. 

Wartburg 6, Nebraska Wesleyan 7
Both offenses struggled to get going early as the game was tied 1-1 after the fourth inning. The bats for Wartburg got hot in the fifth as Brett Kelting singled up the middle to bring in Parker Ridge and Ben DeKruyf doubled down the left field line. DeKruyf finished off the inning for the Knights when he scored off a wild pitch and Wartburg took a 5-2 advantage into the sixth. 

DeKruyf added another RBI to his stat sheet in the final inning to give the Orange & Black a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. However, Derek Kolbush brought in two runs when he doubled and advanced to third off an error to tie the game. Kaleb Knox walked it off for the Prairie Wolves when he got on base off a fielder's choice and scored Kolbush. 

Ridge paced the Knights with a game-high three hits while DeKruyf totaled a team-best two RBIs. Dylan Gotto saw the most action on the mound for Wartburg when he pitched 6.1 innings and had an ERA of six. Aaron Eybers was credited with the loss. 

Wartburg 4, Nebraska Wesleyan 14
The Knights faced an 8-1 deficit going into the seventh as the Prairie Wolves scored in five of the six innings. Zachary Walton tallied the lone run for the Knights when he homered in the top of the second. 

Bryce Butler brought in Walton with a RBI single to left center to cut the deficit to six in the top of the seventh but Wartburg gave up three runs in the bottom half to go down by nine. DeKruyf and Walton recorded RBIs in the eighth but the deficit was to much for the Knights as they fell to NWU 14-4. 

Ridge, Walton and Keaton Gray all recorded a team-high two hits while Walton stood alone with two RBIs. Darren Kilpatrick was credited with the loss on the mound as he pitched four innings and had an ERA of five.