The Prairie Fire baseball team dropped a Midwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday, falling to Lawrence 10-2 in the opener and 15-13 in the nightcap.

Knox (5-26, 3-11) is back in action on Sunday, closing out its three-game series with the Vikings. The game is scheduled for a noon first pitch.

In the opener, Anthony Soliz did his best to hold a potent Lawrence offense down. Soliz did his job, allowing only two runs in 5.1 innings on a blustery day.

With the Prairie Fire trailing 2-0 after the top of the sixth, Knox responded in the bottom half when Thomas Wilmot hit a solo homer to slice the deficit in half.

Unfortunately, the Vikings scored four in the seventh and four in the eighth to break the game open. 

In game two, Wilmot singled home a run to give Knox a 1-0 lead. After Lawrence answered with two in the second, the Prairie Fire struck back with three in the bottom half of the second. Nicholas Nitti singled home Tyler Thiem, then Luke Mathieu followed with a two-run single.

The third inning saw a dramatic shift, with Lawrence plating five runs in the top, only for Knox to answer with four in the bottom. 

Buckie Zamora hit a solo home run, then Nitti would connect on a three-run bomb. They added an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning to give Knox a 9-7 lead.

It was then Lawrence's turn to strike, and the Vikings did. Lawrence scored one in the fifth, one in the sixth, and two in the seventh to take an 11-9 lead.

Not to be outdone, Knox answered in the eighth with four runs: Thiem's single scored Jacob Halseth, Owen Shannon's single brought home Parker Engel, and Nitti doubled in Thiem and Shannon.

However, in its final at-bat, Lawrence rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth and then held Knox scoreless in the bottom to secure the win. 

Nitti led the charge for Knox, registering five hits and six RBI. Mathieu drove home a pair, and Aidan McMurtrie had two hits. Thiem had three hits, three runs scored, and two RBI, while Shannon had two hits and three runs scored.