Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (Mar. 13, 2021) - The Loras College baseball team (3-1, 0-0 A-R-C) was back in Jacksonville, Ill. Saturday afternoon as they took on the Illinois College Blue Boys (1-9, 0-0 MWC) in a non-conference doubleheader. Last weekend the Duhawks handed the Blue Boys at 15-5 loss and continued where they left off this weekend with a clean sweep, winning game one 3-2 and dominating the second game with an 11-6 final score. Luke Fennelly helped guide the Duhawks to their 11-6 victory going 3-5 at the plate and scoring twice while Max Cullen continued his red hot season, driving in three runs in that same game. 

The first game of the afternoon saw both teams record a scoreless first inning before Dylan Pardoe hit a single to left field and advancing to second on a wild pitch from Illinois College's Zach Neal. With Bill Luzzo at the plate, Pardoe advanced once more to third on a passed ball. Luzzo drove in Pardoe from third on an RBI double to center field, putting him in scoring position with Alex Kelsch at the plate. Kelsch smacked a single to center field, advancing to second on the throw and bringing Luzzo home from second to give the Duhawks a 2-0 lead at the end of the top half of the second inning. Illinois College responded in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from Peyton Abbott to cut the Duhawks' lead to one at the end of two innings of play. 

The score remained unchanged until the top of the fifth when JD Mettham reached base on an error and advanced to second on the same play. Head coach Carl Tebon made the call to Ricky Leske to pinch run for Mettham that paid off with Kelsch grounding out on a sacrifice grounder to the pitcher that advanced Leske to third. With one out and a runner on third, Joe Egan followed suit and grounded out to the pitcher to bring home Leske to give the Duhawks a 3-1 lead. The Blue Boys again responded in the bottom half of the inning with two outs and runners on second and third, scoring on a Duhawk defensive error to cut the lead to one run at the end of five. With Ethan Peters on the mound, the Duhawks were able to hold off Illinois College through the remaining two innings of the game to take game one 3-2. 

Erik Edminster made the start on the mound for the Duhawks, dishing 4.2 innings allowing two runs on two hits with four strikeouts. Peters recorded his first save of the season, throwing 2.1 innings and allowing only one hit and striking out four of the eight batters he faced. Egan, Luzzo and Kelsch each recorded an RBI apiece to lead the Duhawks to their first win of the day. 

The Duhawks dominated the second game of the series, getting the bats hot in the top of the second with Daniel Rogers recording a leadoff double to center field, followed by a Pardoe single to right field that moved Rogers to third. With runners on the corners, Luzzo lined an RBI single to center fiield that brought Rogers across the plate to score the Duhawks first run of the game and forcing Illinois College to make a pitching change. With a new pitcher on the mound, Ryan Wohlers stepped up to the plate and recorded a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Pardoe from third. After Luzzo stole second to get into scoring position, Dakota Church hit an RBI single to center field that scored Luzzo from second. A batter later, Church advanced to second on a wild pitch and had company on the bases when Egan reached on a third baseman error that went on to score Church from second to give the Duhawks a 4-0 lead after the top half of the second inning. As was the case in the game prior, the Blue Boys quickly answered in the bottom half of the inning on a homerun from short stop Griffin King. 

An inning later with Fennelly on base after reaching on an error, Cullen stepped up to the plate and smashed a two-run homer over the outfield wall to pad the Duhawks lead further at 6-1. The homer was followed by a pair of ground outs that brought Luzzo to the plate, seeing him single to left field and advancing to third a batter later on a Wohlers double to left and forcing another Illinois College pitching change. With a new pitcher on the mound and runners on the corners, Church put a ball into the gap in left center and advanced to second on a center fielder error, clearing the bases and giving Loras an even wider 8-1 lead. 

The top of the fourth inning saw Loras add yet another run to their already wide lead on an RBI single from Cullen that scored Fennelly from second after he reached base on a double to right field. The Duhawks held the Blue Boys to a scoreless bottom of the fourth, going into the fifth inning with a hefty 9-1 lead. After two back-to-back infield groundouts, Kelsch stepped to the plate and hit a bomb over the outfield wall for a solo homerun, taking the lead to 10-1 after five. 

The score remained unchanged until the bottom half of the seventh inning when Abbott hit a two run shot for the Blue Boys to bring the score to 10-3 after seven innings of play. In the top of the eighth, Rogers notched a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a balk with Pardoe at the plate. Pardoe grounded out the the first baseman who recorded a solo putout that advanced Rogers to third. With Luzzo at the plate, Rogers came home on a wild pitch to extend the lead to eight runs, scoring the only Duhawks run of that inning. Illinois College added two more runs in the bottom of the ninth in a late-game rally attempt but the effort proved to come up short as the Duhawks claimed their second win of the day to complete the sweep with a final score of 11-6. 

The Loras bullpen was on display in game number two, with Marshall Rice making the start and recording his first win of the season, throwing 3.0 innings and allowing only one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Julian Lopez, Owen Funke, Hunter Fallon, Davis Pascoe and \Wohlers each saw an inning on the mound with Lopez and Wohlers each striking out three apiece. 


Fennelly had an incredible day at the plate in game number two with two doubles while Rogers and Wohlers followed with one each. Cullen and Kelsch netted a home run each in the game, with Cullen and Church leading the Duhawks with three RBIs each. Egan, Luzzo, Wohlers and Kelsch each posted one RBI in the game to help the Duhawks earn the 11-6 win. 

Loras is back in action on Friday, Mar. 19 as they make the trip to Lincoln, Neb. to take on Nebraska Welseyan University in their conference-opening series against the Prairie Wolves. The first game of the doubleheader is set to begin at 1:00 PM.