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

LINCOLN, Neb. (Mar. 19, 2021) - The Loras College baseball team (5-1, 2-0 A-R-C) made the long trip to Lincoln, Neb. to take on the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves (2-6, 0-2 A-R-C) to open their 2021 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) schedule. Sophomore Max Cullen had a stellar day at the plate for the Duhawks, tallying five RBIs on four hits between the two games, joined by Joe Egan and Nick DiBenedetto who each drove in three runs in game two to help the Duhawks secure two victories in their first A-R-C matchup of the year. 

Game one of the afternoon saw the two teams battle defensively with the game staying scoreless until the Duhawks took off in the top of the fourth inning. Egan got the Duhawks' bats going with a lead-off double to left field, putting him in scoring position with Dakota Church at the plate. Church drew a walk to put two runners on the bases for Luke Fennelly, who reached base on a bunt that loaded the bases with Cullen at the plate. Cullen continued his hot start to the season with a double into the gap in right center field that cleared the bases to give the Duhawks a 3-0 lead. After a pair of outs, Cullen moved to third base on a passed ball with Bill Luzzo at bat for Loras. Luzzo smacked a single to right center to score Cullen from third and take the score to 4-0. In the bottom half of the same inning, Nebraska Wesleyan added a run in their favor on an RBI single from Aaron Nichols. 

With a three run lead in the top of the fifth inning, Egan led off with a fly ball to center field that was caught for the first out of the inning followed by Church who singled through the left side to bring Fennelly back to the plate. Fennelly went on to strike out with Church still on first with Cullen coming to the plate, who reached on an error that scored Church from first to take the score to 5-1. A batter later, Dylan Pardoe lined a double down the left field line to score Cullen and extend the Duhawks' lead to 6-1 after five innings of play. 

After two scoreless innings, Nebraska Wesleyan made a late-game push in the bottom of the seventh to try to rally back from the 6-1 deficit. Lead-off batter Nichols flied out to left field but Nebraska Wesleyan put three runners on base quick with a single and a pair of walks before head coach Carl Tebon looked to the bullpen for a pitching change, bringing Owen Funke in the game. With bases loaded, the Prairie Wolves' John Haimowitz cleared the bases on a grand slam over the left center field wall to immediately bring the opposition within one. The Duhawks were able to hold off the Prairie Wolves, recording two straight outs after the grand slam to take game one with a final score of 6-5.

Erik Edminster (W, 2-1) made the start on the bump for the Duhawks, putting in 6.1 innings of work with five strikeouts and four runs on six hits before Funke made an appearance at relief. After facing one batter, Ethan Peters (S, 1) came in for Funke to close out the game and record his first save of the season. Nebraska Wesleyan's Noah Unger (L, 0-3) was credited with his third loss of the season. 

Cullen was a key player at the plate for Loras, driving in four runs and posting a double, joined by Pardoe who also recorded a double and one RBI. Egan added another double for the Duhawks while Luzzo rounded out the Duhawks' offense with an RBI. 

The second game of Friday's doubleheader saw the Duhawks dominate from start to finish, getting off to an immediate 2-0 lead after Egan reached base on a lead-off double and advancing to third on a single to left field from Church. A Nebraska Wesleyan error brought Egan across the plate for the first Duhawk run of the inning. After Pardoe reached base on a fielder's choice, Church made his way to third base before a passed ball advanced both runners to bring home Church for the second run.

Inning number two saw the Duhawks add one more run to their lead on a bases loaded pop fly from Church that scored DiBenedetto from third. In the bottom half of the same inning, the Prairie Wolves cut the Duhawks' lead to one after Alex Angele reached first on a walk and advanced to third on a double from Paul Georget. Angele scored from third on a Duhawks error on that same play to bring Mason Bennett to the plate, who doubled to left center and scored Georget. 

Loras pulled away by a five run margin in the top of the third inning, with Fennelly getting things going on a lead-off solo homerun over the left field wall. Cullen followed by reaching base on an infielder error to bring Pardoe to the plate, who popped up to second base, holding Cullen on first with Ryan Wohlers up to bat. Wohlers crushed a two-run homer over the left field wall to bring the score to 6-2. After a Luzzo single through the left side and a DiBenedetto walk, Alex Kelsch stepped to the plate but lined out to third, bringing Egan to bat. Egan added two more runs to the Duhawks already wide lead on a double that cleared the bases. The Prairie Wolves added two more of their own in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single from Noah Unger and an RBI double from Georget. 

The Duhawks continued to see success offensively in the top of the fourth inning, scoring three on an RBI single from Pardoe that scored Fennelly, who reached base on a double and advanced to third on a passed ball. A single from Wohlers put Pardoe in scoring position on second with DiBeendetto at the plate with two outs. DiBenedetto put two runs on the board for Loras on an RBI double to score Wohlers and Pardoe and further extend the lead to 11-4. 

The top of the fifth inning saw more Duhawk runs go up on the scoreboard with yet another lead-off two run homerun, this time by Egan. Cullen stepped to the plate with two outs and hit a single to the left side, going on to score on a triple from Pardoe that was hit into the gap in right center to give the Duhawks a nine run lead at 13-4. The Prairie Wolves scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run shot by Bennett to cut the lead to seven. 

After a scoreless sixth inning, the Duhawks scored two more runs in the top of the seventh to take their lead back to nine runs after Fennelly scored on a passed ball annd DiBenedetto racked up another RBI in the game with a single to center field that scored Cullen from third. The top of the eight inning saw Cullen add another run to the Duhawks already large lead on an RBI single to center field, scoring Fennelly from first who reached base on a walk to bring the score to 16-6 and the Prairie Wolves in jeopardy of ending the game by the ten run rule. Nebraska Wesleyan was able to score one more in the bottom of the eighth to avoid an early closure to the game on an RBI single from Haimowitz but the effort fell short, seeing the Duhawks claim a 16-7 victory. 

Davis Pasco (W, 2-0) earned his second win of the season, throwing 3.0 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. Funke threw 5.0 innings of relief, allowing three runs on seven hits and amassing six strikeouts. Hunter Fallon closed the game out for the Duhawks with 1.0 innings pitched, allowing one hit in four batters faced. 

Egan had a day at the plate for the Duhawks going 4-6 with a homerun, two doubles and three RBIs. Fennelly added a homerun and two doubles for the Duhawks as well, going 3-4 with one RBI, joined by DiBendetto who had one double and three RBIS, going 3-4 in the game. Dylan Pardoe added the Duhawks' only triple while Wohlers rounded out the offense with a homerun of his own. 

The Duhawks are due to face the Prairie Wolves on Saturday, March 20 in their second doublheader of the weekend. The first game is scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM.