CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras Baseball team opened the 2015 Iowa Conference Tournament with a frustrating 9-1 loss at the hands of Central College. A five-run first paved the way for the Dutch who limited Loras' offense to one run on five hits.

The Duhawks opened Thursday's game quietly as they were retired in order in the first.

A week after throwing one of his best outings of the year, junior Alex Steines struggled to find his rhythm as the first five Central batters reached base.

Central's Kirby Coppess tripled to right center on a 1-0 pitch which began the rally for the Dutch. A RBI double from Michael Reuter made it 2-0 before Mason Ellis made the first out of the inning on a sacrifice fly to score Adam Lindell from third.

Steines' day came to an end Spencer Gritsch singled through the left side to plate two more runs and give his team a 5-0 lead. Senior Will Petrosky came on in relief, throwing 4 2/3 innings while allowing three earned runs on six hits and four walks.

The five-run advantage held true for four innings before Central tacked on three more runs on four hits, extending their lead to 8-0. Two of the four hits in the inning went for extra bases, scoring two runs in the process.

Loras finally cracked the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, thanks to sophomore Nolan Ritter's leadoff single up the middle. Following a walk to sophomore Cole Reeg, junior Patrick Walsh flew out to center for the first out of the inning. Senior Spence Bonner pulled the 1-0 pitch through the left side to bring Ritter around from second to score.

Central responded in their half of the eighth with a run of their own to reestablish the eight-run lead.

With the win, Central advanced in the winner's bracket where they will face the second-seed Coe.

Game Changer
Central jumped on junior Alex Steines from the very first at-bat, with Kirby Coppess driving a triple to the right-center gap … Steines' day ended after throwing 1/3 inning and allowed three hits and five runs

Key Stat
Central advanced runners on 19-of-27 occasions, resulting in a .318 batting average with runners on base

Notables

Up Next
The Duhawks will face Buena Vista at 10 a.m. on Friday in an elimination game. The teams split their season series in Dubuque with three of the four games being decided by one run.