DAVENPORT, Fla. -- The Ripon Red Hawks baseball team (1-10, 0-0 MWC) suffered a 3-6 Spring Break loss to UW-La Crosse (2-3, 0-0 WIAC) after ten innings in Florida. Right fielder Gabriel Kennedy (DeForest, Wis., DeForest HS) led Ripon from the batter's box, going 2-4 with 2 runs. 

Ripon jumped ahead to an early lead in Wednesday's proceedings, earning a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after an Eagles throwing error brought Kennedy and left fielder Jack Anderson (Oconomowoc, Wis., Oconomowoc HS) home. From there, pitcher Brady Wotruba (Pulaski, Wis., Pulaski HS) and the Ripon defense kept the momentum going, keeping their lead until the fifth inning. UW-La Crosse carved out 3 singles at the top of the inning, scoring 3 runs before the Red Hawks earned the third out. 

Looking to immediately respond, singles from Kennedy and DH Crete Slattery (Lake Geneva, Wis., Badger HS) put the Red Hawks in position, and a walk from the Eagles brought in Kennedy for the tying run. Tied at 3-3, the teams went through the next innings deadlocked, neither team earning a strong chance to pull ahead. Ripon made a pitching change heading into the ninth, with Matthew Lu (Richmond Hill, Ont., Bill Crothers Secondary School) taking over for Wotruba and sending the team into the bottom of the inning still tied at 3-all. Slattery would get on base for Ripon to open the half-inning, but a double play and a foul-out sent the contest into extra innings. 

The tenth inning decided the game, with the Eagles hitting a triple with two runners on base for a 5-3 lead, before sending a 6th run in on a single to right field. Looking to keep things going despite the 3-run deficit, two ground-outs and a fly ball would end the Red Hawks day 3-6 in the tenth. 

 Ripon baseball continues their Spring Break trip with two more games, going up against UW-Stout on Thursday, Mar 19 and Kalamazoo on Mar 20.