DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - With the season now half-way completed, the Duhawks head into the home stretch of the Iowa Conference season. With 14 games remaining, Loras finds themselves in second place in the Iowa Conference, but face a tall task this weekend as No. 13 Wartburg comes to Petrakis park.

SCOUTING REPORT
Wartburg enters this weekends matchup with dominante forces on each side of the ball. The Knights will come to town with the most powerful lineup in the conference as well as the second best pitching staff. Alongside that pitching staff is a lights out bullpen, where their two closers each have sub-two ERAs. DJ Utley leads this team offensively, holding a .402 batting average with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. Both of those latter numbers leads the conference. As a team, the Knights have each of the top five home run hitters in the conference. On the base paths, Jackson Litterer ranks second in the conference in stolen bases with 13. Parker Bolt has been the best starting pitcher to date for Wartburg, tuning in with a 2.76 ERA in seven starts. He's backed in the bullpen by Gavin Nadermann who holds a 1.69 ERA and five saves.

DUHAWKS COMPLETE 2-2 SPLIT WITH LUTHER
This past weekend featured a classic tale of two different games being played. When the Duhawks were playing well, the Norse simply weren't up to the task, but if the tables were turned Luther was able to have their way with the Duhawks. Winning both of their games by shutout, the Loras pitching staff was able to get quality starts from pitchers who have struggled through the first half of the 2015 season. Senior Will Petrosky continued his hot streak by tossing 7 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just five hits in the process. Junior Alex Steines also found his stride against the Norse, pitching 5 shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out one. In the bullpen, seniors Connor Schreck and Kody Massner each threw two shutout innings of relief. Schreck allowed two hits, striking out two, while Massner allowed just one batter to reach base. On offense, sophomore Luke Leibforth led the way, hitting .454 for the weekend. Leibforth added a walk, a stolen base, two RBIs, and two doubles to his season total in the process.

PETROSKY FINDS HIS GROOVE
With 7.0 shutout innings against Luther, senior pitcher Will Petrosky has now thrown 13.0 consecutive innings wihtout allowing an earned run. Things started to go well for the senior against Dominican allowing four runs, one unearned run, and a walk over 6.0 innings of work. His six strikeouts in that game marked a season-high for Petrosky. Against Luther, Petrosky was able to follow that performance in style, allowing five hits and five walks while striking out four. The Glenbard North product was also able to earn his first victory of the season moving him to 1-3. Loras is now 3-4 in games when he starts on the mound. With these last two starts, Petrosky has lowered his season ERA from 8.84 to 5.29. A good Petrosky adds much needed depth to the Duhawks starting rotation.

DUHAWKS UNABLE TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION
It's no secret that the Duhawks have been unable to control their defensive woes this season, ranking last in the league with a .937 fielding percentage with the league average standing at .952.  Loras' record while allowing zero or one error is far greater than that of their record in games which they commit at least two errors. When commiting a single error, the Duhawks hold a record of 9-3 compared to just 5-8 when commiting more than one error. This could just be a bout of bad luck for Loras however, since their opponents hold a 7-6 record against them when they commit two. Junior Spence Bonner has stood out defensively at first for Loras, holding a .991 fielding percentage heading into this weekend. Bonner has showcased his abilities week-in and week-out by successfully scooping up balls in the dirt. Sophomore Luke Leibforth has also played well on defense, committing more errors than Bonner, but wowing the Duhawk faithful with highlight-reel plays. Against Luther, Leibforth showcased his ability to backhand ground balls and get runners out.

SITUATIONAL HITTING SUCCESS
With runners on base, Loras has hit .293 and .438 with the bases loaded. Loras has been especially strong when runners have been on third with less than two outs. In that situation, the Duhawks have hit .693, driving in 52 runners on 75 attempts. With two outs, the Duhawks have driven in 49 RBIs. Sophomore Tony Heiser leads in batting average in that catagory, hitting .483 with two outs and driving in nine two out RBIs.  Heiser also leads the team in average with runners in scoring position at .429. Sophomore Nolan Ritter has also seen success in this department, hitting .409 with runners in scoring position and .367 with runners on base.

KEYS TO BEATING WARTBURG
There are many things that the Duhawks will have to do well in order to take down the first place Knights of Wartburg College. Number one priority will be limiting the Knights ability to hit the ball over the fence. In games where Wartburg doesn't hit a home run, they hold a record of just 6-5. Once that number reaches one home run per game however, Wartburg is 17-1. If the wind is blowing in at Petrakis this weekend, Wartburg could be in trouble. Loras must also limit the amount of runs Wartburg scores in the first inning. In previous games, Wartburg has outscored their opponents 40-16 in the first inning of play. The Duhawks have allowed 17 runs in the first inning all season and will need to continue that pace this weekend. Another key to the Duhawks' success will be to get themselves off to a good start each game, both on the mound and offensively. The Knights feature one of, if not the best bullpen in the conference headlined by Gavin Nadermann and Taylor Gilson. Nadermann has five saves for the season and has accumulated a 1.69 ERA in 12 appearances. Gilson has also appeared 12 times, while being good for a 1.91 ERA. His 36 strikeouts lead all Wartburg pitchers, while averaging 1.13 per inning pitched. The Knights are solid all around the diamond, boasting a team fielding percentage of .971, which is tops in the Iowa Conference. If Wartburg commits a miscue in the field, it'll be critical for Loras to take advantage of the opportunity.

A LOOK INTO THE PAST
Wartburg has kept the Duhawks in recent history, with the Knights holding a 9-2 record over Loras dating dating back to the 2011-2012 season. Last season, the Duhawks earned a win against Wartburg after being swept the season prior. Junior Spence Bonner lit the Knights up in his first season as  a Duhawk, going 9-for-12 from the plate in four games. Senior Will Petrosky pitched his way to a win in a 2-1 victory as well. In 6.0 innings, Petrosky allowed five hits, one earned run, and one walk, while striking out six batters. Patrick Walsh was the only other starter to hit over .300 against the Knights last season with a .357 batting average. Walsh added two RBIs and a double to go along with that average.

PAIR OF DUHAWKS NATIONALLY RANKED
Both Adam Schwoebel and Patrick Walsh have found themselves nationally ranked thanks to their performances to date. 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 of which trail Cameron Cox of Concordia-Texas. Patrick Walsh ranks 22nd in walks drawn with 19 thanks to his keen eye in the batters box. In 21 games, Walsh has struck out just three times.

TEBON EARNS 400^th 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.