MINNEAPOLIS-- Rams baseball dropped both parts of a home Upper Midwest Athletic Conference double-header on Wednesday afternoon. Martin Luther College defeated North Central 9-7 and 6-3 at Wintercrest Park.

In game one North Central started quickly by firing three straight doubles and jumping out 3-0 through a full inning. Freshmen Cory Kukkola (Fountain Hills, Ariz./Fountain Hills), Bobby Donohoe (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City West) and Bryce Riege (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) each consecutive two-baggers in the first inning to give NCU a quick start.

Martin Luther responded by tying the game in the second before the Rams answered in the bottom of the frame. Freshman Elijah Valder (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. He then scored on an RBI ground out by freshman Taylor Justice (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) and NCU led 4-3 after two.

The Knights got two more to take the lead in the third and NCU was scoreless in the bottom of the frame. North Central held MLC off in the fourth and tied the game up 5-5 in the bottom of the inning. Cory Kukkola posted a two-out single and scored on a single from Bryce Riege.

Both teams were scoreless in the fifth before Martin Luther added two in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead. Once again the teams came up empty in the seventh. MLC added another run in the eighth to lead 8-5 before North Central got one back in the bottom of the inning.

The Rams trailed 9-6 going into their final at-bat but only got one more across, falling to the Knights. Elijah Valder was 3-3 with a walk and an RBI. Bobby Donohoe was 3-4 with an RBI and Cory Kukkola was 3-5 in the lead off spot.

North Central struggled to get things going offensively in game two. Martin Luther jumped on NCU with two runs in the first and led 6-0 after three innings. The Rams went down in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning before leaving two runners on in the seventh. 

The home team finally got some offense going in the eighth to keep their hope alive for a final rally. Senior Matthew Juve (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) led off with a single and Cory Kukkola drew a walk. Then NCU loaded the bases and scored when Bobby Donohoe was hit by a pitch and Bryce Riege drew a RBI walk. A double play ground ball plated another run but took the air out of the Rams rally. Senior Taylor Madrinich (West Bend, Wis./West Bend) singled to push across another run and the difference was cut to 6-3.

North Central retired the Knights in order in the top of the ninth but also went down in order in the bottom of the frame to seal game. Taylor Madrinich was 2-4 with an RBI in the loss.

The Rams will get back to action on Friday when they start a four game series against Finlandia University (Hancock, Mich.). The Friday double-header starts at 3 p.m. Saturday's games begin at Noon.