DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - For the final time in 2015, Loras will welcome an opponent to the confines of Petrakis Park this weekend as Buena Vista comes to town. After being originally scheduled for a Friday-Saturday weekend series, the expectation of poor weather in Dubuque on Saturday prompted a change, moving the series to Sunday-Monday.

SCOUTING REPORT: BUENA VISTA
This weekend marks the first time all season in which Buena Vista hasn't been nationally ranked or recieving votes. Pre-Season First Team All-American Brandon Wessels has struggled this season, hitting just .276 with eight RBIs compared to last seasons totals of .362 with 36 RBIs. Stepping up however was Eric Gurbacki, who's .381 batting average ranks fourth in the conference. Right on Gurbacki's trail in Tanner Truesdell with a .379 batting average and 33 RBIs. On the mound, Jake Bjorkgren and Justin Lange have held steady boasting 2.41 and 3.00 ERAs respectively. Buena Vista also featues two star relief pitchers in Lucas Hadaway and Wes Onken. Hadaway has the best ERA in the conference at 1.06 while Onken ranks fourth at 2.19. North Polk's Hadaway is also the conference leader in games saved with nine.

LORAS COMPLETES SEASON SWEEP OF DUBUQUE
Loras aimed to finish off their season sweep of the Spartans from University of Dubuque on Tuesday afternoon. With a pair of victories, 9-7 and 7-6, Loras improved their record to 17-14 on the season and 4-0 against Dubuque. This pair of wins marks seven wins against the Spartans in the teams past eight meetings. Senior Adam Schwoebel pitched his way to his seventh win of the season in game one, moving him into a tie for the 11th most in the country with Coe's Jack Hoffmann. Junior Patrick Walsh was the star offensively in game one, going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Senior Anthony Flattery also hit well in game one, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Game two was started by senior Will Petrosky who notched his second win of the season by tossing six innings, allowing two hits, two earned runs, and five walks, while striking out six Spartans. Petrosky lowered his ERA to a season-low 5.23 in the process. Sophomore Nolan Ritter played fantastic in game two, going 3-for-4 at the dish and driving in three RBIs. Ritter raised his batting average from .310 to .333 with the performance. Patrick Walsh capped off his afternoon with a 2-for-5 performance which included two additional RBIs and another two-bagger.

A LOOK INTO THE PAST
This years crop of seniors haven't seen as much success against Buena Vista throughout their careers as they had hoped, accumulating a 3-10 record against the Beavers the last three seasons. A win for the Duhawks this season will be their first since the 2012-2013 season. Seniors starters Adam Schwoebel and Will Petrosky have seen mixed results against Buena VIsta in three starts each. Both starters got roughed up a bit during last season's matchups, but have otherwise seen success. Schwoebel accumulated 12 innings pitched, alloiwng eight hits, and two earned runs, while striking out nine batters in his previous two appearances against the Beavers. Petrosky notched two victories over Buena Vista during his first two seasons at Loras, tossing a total of nine innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run, and five walks, while striking out seven batters. At the plate, the Duhawks have stuggled in recent years against Buena Vista. Junior Patrick Walsh has been a bright spot however, hitting .333 (9-of-27) with three RBIs in his career against the Beavers. In a much smaller sample size, sophomore Tony Heiser has also hit well against Buena Vista, to the tune of a .444 average (4-of-9) with two RBIs in three appearances. Not many other current Duhawks have seen playing time against Buena Vista due to the youth of this seasons team. Senior Anthony Flattery has just six career at-bats against the Beavers, with junior Lucas Jacque seeing just 10 at-bats in his previous two seasons.

SITUATIONAL HITTING SUCCESS
With runners on base, Loras has hit .285 and .471 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 .679, driving in 57 runners on 84 attempts. With two outs, the Duhawks have driven in 51 RBIs. Sophomore Tony Heiser leads in batting average in that catagory, hitting .429 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 .385 with runners in scoring position and .343 with runners on base.

KEYS TO BEATING BUENA VISTA
Despite their record, Buena Vista is one of the more balanced teams in the Iowa Conference, coming into this weekends games with a .309 team batting average and a 3.91 team ERA on the mound. Both of which rank them third in the conference. The Beavers also boast the third most efficient defense in the conference with a .956 fielding percentage. Teams have struggled to get hard contact against Buena Vista as well which will certainly test one of the Duhawks strengths. While Loras hits .298 as a team, opponents are only hitting .266 against Buena Vista. One thing to mention is the number of double plays the Beavers have turned this season, eleven. This means that Buena Vista is more of a fly ball team, looking to get guys to pop-out rather than ground-out. As a team, Loras has grounded into 23 double plays this season, a number which would stay stagnant against the Beavers. Loras will be able to control the strike zones well against Buena Vista, a team who has surrendered the third most free bases in the conference this season. Between walks and hit by pitches, Buena Vista has allowed 139 free base runners to date. In comparison, Loras has drawn 103 walks and have been hit 35 times. Patience at the plate will be a key to success for the Duhawks once again. The Duhawks also need to stand their ground when Buena Vista brings in their conference leading relievers. This is a similar situation to the Wartburg series in which Loras touched up then conference ERA leader Gavin Nadermann for five hits, two earned runs, and two walks, in two appearances.  

SCHWOEBEL FINDS HIMSELF NATIONALLY RANKED
Senior Adam Schwoebel has found himself nationally ranked thanks to his stellar performances to date. Schwoebel's four complete games have led to him being ranked fifth 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 seven victories come into this week ranked 11th in the country. Both of which trail Cameron Cox of Concordia-Texas.

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.