AUBURNDALE, Fla. - Ripon's baseball team opened their 2019 season Saturday against two of the toughest opponents on their schedule, losing to second-ranked Rowan University 11-2, before falling to #25 Wheaton (Mass.) 3-1 in a rain-shortened contest.

In the day's first game, Ripon kept things close in the opening innings, trailing 1-0 entering the fourth inning. Rowan (3-1) then scored five unearned runs in that frame, before Ripon (0-2) could get on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Joey Garza scored the Red Hawks' first run of the season on an RBI single by Jack Nelson. Noah Herreid added an RBI groundout to cut Rowan's lead to 6-2 after six innings. Rowan would then put the game away with a two-run seventh , followed by one run in the eighth and two more in the ninth.

Ripon finished with nine hits in the game, with two apiece coming from Michael Barnes, Riley Erickson, and Jacob Pankratz. Brice Swick (0-1) pitched six strong innings, giving up just five hits, without allowing an earned run and striking out eight batters.

In the Red Hawks' second game of the day, they fell behind early, as Wheaton (7-3) scored all three of their runs in the game during the bottom of the first on a two-run double and an RBI single. Ripon scored their lone run of the game in the top of the sixth on an RBI triple by Barnes, which scored Pankratz, before the sky opened up, ending the game in six innings.

Ripon finished with three hits, two of which came off the bat of Barnes. Brian Brown (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing seven hits and allowing three earned runs in five innings of work, while striking out four.

The Red Hawks will be in action again on Sunday when they'll play Franklin & Marshall and Rutgers-Newark at 10 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. ET, respectively. Both games will be played at Chain of Lakes Park Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla.