The Lakeland Lakers baseball team traveled to Surry Community College to face the Knights on Friday. The Lakers, being outside for the first time this spring, faced a Knights team that had already played 14 games. The Lakers won game 1, 4-1, before dropping the nightcap, 9-4. In game 1, the Lakers jumped to a 1-0 lead after a Phillip Putnam single was followed by an RBI double from Kyle Zaluski. The Knights tied it in the 4th and the game remained that way until the top of the 7th inning. Malakai Roberts got things going in the 7th with a single. RJ Petties then sacrificed him to second base. Zaluski followed with an RBI single to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead. Ben Sterritt then stepped to the plate and ripped a 2-run homer to give the Lakers a commanding 4-1 lead and the eventual victory. Petties finished 2-3 while Zaluski was 2-4 in the game. Adam Letson earned the win pitching 6 innings for the Lakers. Letson allowed 1 run on 1 hit while striking out 4 batters. Malakai Roberts pitched a scoreless 7th inning to earn the save while striking out 1 batter.

Game 2 was close until the bottom of the 3rd inning when the Knights scored 7 runs. The Lakers tried to battle back as they scored their first run in the top of the 5th inning. Jason Shenkel hit a double and Cody Hejduk followed that with an RBI-single to plate Lakeland's first run. The Lakers tacked on three more runs in the 6th as Zaluski homered after a Johnathan Cook walk. The Lakers final run was scored after a Tristan DesLauriers single was followed by a Seth Freeman walk. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Shenkel came through again as he hit an RBI-single. Shenkel finished 2-3 in the game and Abe Bayus took the loss for the Lakers on the mound.

Krause's Comments: "I was really pleased with our effort and play today. It was our first time outside this spring. To come out and play as well as we did after a long bus ride was a nice accomplishment. I was pleased with our pitchers overall and the way we swung the bats. We were also pretty good in the field - especially considering we've been in a gym for so long. it was a good start and I'm looking forward to our continued improvement."

Next Up: The weather has already forced the Lakers to make some changes to their schedule. They played a DH on Friday due to the impending weather forecast for Saturday in Surry. The weather did hit and so there are no games on Saturday; however, the Lakers and Knights will now play a DH on Sunday instead of a single game. The games are scheduled to begin at noon. On Monday, the Lakers are scheduled to play a DH at Caldwell CC.