WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The 23rd-ranked Amherst College baseball team held a 7-4 lead after seven, but a five-run eighth inning gave Ripon College the lead as the Jeffs fell in their 2015 season-opener Saturday, 9-7.

The Purple & White open the season 0-1 following the loss, while the Red Hawks begin the year 1-0.

Five players recorded multi-hit games for Amherst, as the Jeffs totaled 13 hits on the day. Ripon connected on seven hits. Brendon Hardin '15 went 2-for-5 with two runs and one RBI, and Andrew Vandini '16 hit 2-for-4 with three RBI including a double and a triple. Tyler Jacobs '15 (2-4), Conner Gunn '16 (2-5) and Yanni Thanopoulos '17 (2-4) all recorded two hits, while Mike Odenwaelder '16 (1-4), Anthony Spina '17 (1-4) and Sam Ellinwood '18 (1-4) added one.

Four different Jeffs took to the mound as Jackson Volle '17 earned the start, striking out eight batters in six innings. He allowed four runs (two earned) and just four hits. JR Anderson '18 made his first appearance in relief for the Jeffs and threw a scoreless seventh.

The Red Hawks got on the board first following a double by Mitchell Busch to bring in Michael Polcyn, while the Jeffs evened the score in the bottom of the third on a RBI single by Odenwaelder.

The following inning, Amherst scored three more runs on a RBI single by Jacobs and a two-RBI triple by Vandini. After a score by Ripon in the top of the fifth cut the deficit to 4-2, the Jeffs tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning on a RBI single by Ellinwood.

Both teams scored two runs each in the sixth as the Jeffs held a 7-4 lead. After a scoreless seventh, the Red Hawks rallied in the top of the eighth to score five runs and pull ahead. Amherst was unable to score in the eighth and ninth.

The Jeffs return to the field tomorrow and will play a double-header against Rutgers-Camden beginning at 9 a.m.