DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - Days after wrapping up the season series with Luther, the Loras baseball team came up short in a doubleheader against the University of Dubuque on Tuesday. The Duhawks saw their season record dip to 8–12 overall and 2–8 in the Iowa Conference following a pair of losses.
LORAS HIGHLIGHTS
- The Spartans tagged senior Alex Steines with two runs in the home half of the first inning on Tuesday, scoring first on a sacrifice fly before an infield single made it 2–0.
- A RBI single with runners at the corners in the third increased Dubuque's lead to three with Loras managing one hit through the first three innings.
- The three-run lead governed the gameplay up until the sixth when the Duhawks crafted a two-run, three-hit inning to cut the deficit to one.
- Junior Tony Heiser scored the first run after starting the inning with a single to left center. He later came in to score after thanks to a single by senior Patrick Walsh.
- The second run of the inning came when junior Thomas Johnson grounded into a double play, which scored Walsh from third.
- Looking to steal the victory late, Loras loaded the bases in the seventh with no outs, but failed to bring home the tying run after a fielder's choice and a pair of strikeouts.
- Steines shouldered the load for the Duhawks on the mound, throwing six complete innings, but surrendered nine hits and three runs to take his second loss of the season.
- In game two, it was once again the Spartans who struck first, scoring two runs in the second on a single and a throwing error.
- Loras responded immediately with a run in the third after Johnson beat out a double-play ball, which scored Heiser from third.
- Dubuque tacked on three more runs over the course of the next six innings, putting the game out of reach for the Duhawks.
- Kyle Hoffman made his second varsity appearance of the season, throwing three innings of one-hit, one-run ball.
- Sophomore Tyler Tomaka came on in relief of Hoffman and kept the Spartans off the scoreboard in the eighth, striking out one and walking one.
- Walsh's 0-for-4 day in game two ended a 16-game reached base streak for the senior. Currently, Heiser owns the longest reached base streak for Loras at seven games.
- Tuesday was the fourth time this season that the Duhawks committed three or more errors in a game. Loras is now 1–3 in those games.
- As a team, the Duhawks batting average dropped 11 points on Tuesday from .318 to .307.
FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Austin Konagel | The freshman got the start at second base for the third consecutive game and went 2-for-3 at the plate, raising his season average to .379.
Tony Heiser | From the leadoff spot, Heiser continued to be productive, going 2-for-5 in game two and scored Loras' lone run. On the year, Heiser is hitting .328 with a .349 batting average.
UP NEXT
Loras hosts Coe for a weekend series at Petrakis Park, beginning on Friday, April 15 at 3:30 p.m. In last year's series, Coe took three-of-four from the Duhawks at Daniels Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
