DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - Coming off a 3-0 week just before Easter, the Duhawks are ready to get back into the swing of things with a weekend series in Decorah against Luther.

SCOUTING REPORT: LUTHER
Luther enters this weekend sitting in fourth place to begin the season. Picked to finish eighth in the conference, Luther has proven to be a better team than previously thought. On the mound, the Norse will start two of the best pitchers in the conference against the opposing Duhawks. Teddy Klingsporn boasts a 1.82 ERA, good for fifth in the conference in his five starts. Following Klingsporn is Nate Beckman holding a 3.47 ERA, ranking ninth in the conference. Neither pitcher is known much for their strikeout prowess, as neither ranks in the top-10 in the conference. Starter Alec Knop leads the league in K's with 35 in 34.1 innings, but has been touched up for a 6.03 ERA. At the plate, Luther is led by Carlos Pineda, batting .420 through 20 games. Ranking second in average, Pineda has 19 RBIs.

DUHAWKS SWEEP DUBUQUE IN CROSS-TOWN CLASH
For the third time in four years, the Duhawks swept their opening series against the Spartans of University of Dubuque. Loras knocked out the Spartans in two close pitchers duels 3-0, and 3-2. In game one, senior Adam Schwoebel earned his fifth win of the season, making him the first pitcher in the Iowa Conference with five wins. Schwoebel tossed a seven inning complete game shutout allowing just three hits. The Althoff Catholic product was backed by a trio of RBI singles by sophomores Cole Reeg, Luke Leibforth, and Tony Heiser. Junior Patrick Walsh earned a much need win in game two, tossing five scoreless innings and allowing just three hits and two walks. Walsh struck out just one batter, but held the Spartans scoreless. This was the junior's first scoreless outing of the season. Providing the offense in this one was senior Adam Kennedy who blasted a first inning double which brought three runs around to score for the Duhawks. The bullpen also pitched well for the Duhawks in game two, allowing a single earned run to score over the course of four innings pitched. Loras will meet back up with Dubuque to finish their season series on Tuesday, April 21.

PETROSKY FINDS A GROOVE AGAINST DOMINICAN
After starting off his senior campaign in a bit of a slump, Will Petrosky recorded a strong outing in last week's non-conference tilt against Dominican. In a 10-7 victory over the Stars, Petrosky threw six innings while allowing just one unearned run. Petrosky allowed five Dominican batters to reach base, but tallied a season-high six strikeouts. This outing matched Petrosky's longest of the season and was the first outing in which Petrosky allowed zero earned runs. Offensively, the Duhawks broke the game open in the eighth inning. With the score knotted up at four apiece, Loras plated five runners to take a 9-4 lead. Taking advantage of some spotty pitching, Loras needed just two base hits to bring home the runners. Cole Reeg reached on an error, scoring freshman Ryan Koester, while Luke Leibforth drew a walk with the bases loaded to bring home senior Nate Even. The real difference maker came by way of junior Patrick Walsh, whose single proved good for two RBIs.

SCHWOEBEL NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK SPECIAL MENTION
After recording his conference-leading fifth win of the season, senior Adam Schwoebel was named a special mention on this weeks IIAC Player of the Week list. Schwoebel qualified for the pitchers portion of the list, narowly being beaten out by Matt Schissel of Central College. Schwoebel is currently enjoying his best season as a Duhawk, ranking eighth in the conference with a 2.51 ERA and fifth in innings pitched with 32.1. Schwoebel has showcased an ability to keep batters off-balance, ranking fifth in the conference with 10 looking strikeouts. Over the course of his last three outings, Schwoebel has recorded three consecutive complete games.

"PATIENCE MAKES PERFECT"
Heading into this weekend's tilt with Luther, Loras holds the second best on-base percentage in the conference at .401. A low-scoring week saw this number trend down, but the Duhawks are prepared to get back to their offensive ways against the Norse. With 81 walks drawn so far, Loras holds sole posession of first in the conference. This gaudy number is due in part to the plate discipline of Patrick Walsh. Walsh leads all qualified batters with 19 walks drawn on the season while ranking fourth in the conference in on-base percentage with .473. The Glenbard East product has truley showcased his talent by striking out just three times in 21 contests. Part of what plays into Walsh's success is his eye at the plate and ability to lay off pitches thrown outside of the strike zone.

KEYS TO BEATING LUTHER
At first glance, it appears that both Loras and Luther match up fairly even. Both teams rank towards the middle of the conference in many statistical categories. Each team has proven to have the ability to get guys on base whether it's via walk or hit. One place of concern for the Norse is small ball. In 20 games play, Luther has recorded just 12 total scarifice plays.  To compare, Loras has tallied 20 such plays. Luther has allowed 22 sacrifices to date. On the base paths, Luther is one of the best teams in the conference having recorded 31 stolen bases in 36 attempts. Junior Lucas Jacque will need to keep his eye's peeled behind the plate. Loras will also have an advantage on the basepaths, as Luther has completed just a single pick-off play this season. On the mound, Luther has stuggled to keep men off the base paths. Opposing teams are hitting .293 off of Luther's pitchers, placing them sixth in the conference. The major keys to success for Loras will be pitching and fielding. On the mound Loras needs to keep the momentum they gained over the last week after their starters pitched three great games. In the field, the Duhawks need to focus on making the easy plays. To date the Duhawks rank last in the conference with a .935 fielding percentage and 20 errors, nearly 20 percentage points behind Luther.

A LOOK INTO THE PAST
Over the past three seasons, the Duhawks have amassed an 8-3 record over Luther College including a 4-0 sweep of the Norse last season. This years crop of seniors have enjoyed success against Luther so far in their collegiate careers. The most successful has been Adam Schwoebel, who has never lost to Luther in his career. On the mound, Schwoebel is 3-0 against the Norse over his three seasons of competition. In the box, junior Patrick Walsh has also seen his fair share of success against Luther. In two seasons, Walsh has accumulated a .310 batting average along with 10 runs batted in, and five runs scored. Walsh also holds a 1-0 record on the mound against Luther, having tossed a complete game last season. Walsh and the Duhawks picked up a close 3-2 victory, as he struck out six batters.

PAIR OF DUHAWKS NATIONALLY RANKED
Both Adam Schwoebel and Patrick Walsh have found themselves nationally ranked thanks to their performances so far this season. Schwoebel's three complete games have him ranked 13th in the nation. His ability to go deep into games has provided the Duhawks the reliability neccessary to earn wins on the mound. The senior's five consecutive victories come into this weekend ranked 20th. Both trailing Cameron Cox of Concordia. Patrick Walsh ranks 22nd in walks drawn with 19. In 21 games, Walsh has struck out just three times.

TEBON EARNS 400th WIN AS A DUHAWK
With a 7-2 win over Coe on March 27, Carl Tebon became the second current coach in the Iowa Conference to win his 400th game with one team. To date, three other coaches with Iowa Conference ties have clipped the 400-game mark. Joel Holst, the current head coach at Wartburg, is nearing 600 career wins, 100 of which came during his tenure as the Loras head coach.

LORAS PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN IOWA CONFERENCE
In the preseason poll, the Iowa Conference coaches picked the Duhawks to finish third behind Buena Vista and Wartburg. In 2014, Loras advanced to the final day of the conference tournament before falling to Central. Loras has a young roster in 2015 and will look to stake claim towards the top of the Iowa Conference.