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

INDIANOLA, Iowa (Apr. 1, 2021) - Led offensively by d3baseball.com shortstop of the week Luke Fennelly, the Loras College baseball team 9-5, 5-4 A-R-C) split Thursday evening's doublheader against American Rivers Conference foe the Simpson College Storm (5-7, 2-4 A-R-C). In the second game of the day, Fennelly went 2-5 at the plate with a team-leading four RBIs to help push the Duhawks past the Storm 15-11.

After a scoreless first inning for both sides in the first game of the night, the Storm put the first run on the board after TJ Stephenson hit a two-out triple, going on to score on a Duhawks' fielding error. 

Loras took the lead a half inning later in the top of the third after two straight walks drawn by Joe Egan and Luke Fennelly put two runners on base for Max Cullen. Cullen reached first on an error by Simpson pitcher Colton Major and advanced to second on the throw, scoring Egan from second and Fennelly from first to give the Duhawks a 2-1 advantage. Simpson responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homerun from Quentin Sefrit to take the lead back at 3-2. 

The Duhawks tied the game back at 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning after Dakota Church hit a lead-off single through the left side of the infield to bring Ryan Wohlers to the plate. Wohlers laid down a bunt to advance Church to second, a move that paid off as Bill Luzzo smacked an RBI double to score Church but was thrown out advancing trying to stretch his double into a triple. A solo homerun from Simpson's Stephenson took the score to it's final 4-3 to give the Storm the game one win. 

Head coach Carl Tebon utilized two pitchers on the mound for the Duhawks in Curtis Lilienthal and Ethan Peters, who both dealt 3.0 innings. Lilienthal allowed three runs on six hits with two strikeouts before Peters got the call in relief, allowing only one run on three hits with a solid six strikeouts. 

The second game of the night saw the Duhawks get off to an immediate four-run lead with Egan hitting lead-off and reaching first after being hit by the pitch. He went on to advance to second on a passed ball with Fennelly at the plate, who also drew a walk. With runners on first and second, Cullen drew the third straight walk of the inning to load the bases. One out later, Church stepped up to the plate to, for the fourth time in the inning, be walked and score the first run of the inning. Wohlers tacked two more on for the Duhawks on an RBI single to center field, advancing to second on the throw to put runners on second and third for Luzzo. Luzzo extended the lead to 4-0 on a sacrifice fly out to centerfield that scored Church from third. Simpson responded in the bottom half of the inning by putting three runs of their own on the board with two coming from an RBI single through the left side of the infield that scored runners from second and third. A sacrfice fly from Sefrit scored the runner from third to cut the lead to one.

Loras kept bringing the heat in the second inning with Egan reaching base on his second walk of the night to bring up Fennelly who hit a two-run bomb to take the score to 6-3 in favor of the Duhawks. 

After a scoreless fourth inning, Simpson added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a walk with bases loaded that scored the runner from third. The Storm put up two more in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs on an RBI double from Brennen Lemke followed by an RBI single that scored Lemke. 

The Duhawks came back in the top of the seventh inning looking to extend their lead further after Simpson clawed their way back within one. After two immediate outs in the inning, Luzzo hit a single to the gap in left center that was followed by a JD Mettham walk. Ricky Leske got the call to pinch run for Mettham with Alex Kelsch at the plate, who also drew a walk to load the bases for Egan. With the bases loaded, Egan reached on a fielder's choice that saw Luzzo cross home for the first run of the inning. Fennelly came to the plate with the bases still loaded and reached first on an error that cleared the bases and gave the Duhawks a 10-8 lead after seven innings. 

The top of the eighth inning saw the Duhawks continue hammering the Storm offensively, with Mitch Gruber getting the inning started with a leadoff walk. Church advanced Gruber to second on a sacrifice out to the infield, seeing Gruber advance to third on a wild pitch with Wohlers at the plate. Wohlers put runners on the corners for Luzzo after drawing a walk, where Luzzo took advantage and lined a single through the right side of the infield to score Gruber. Daniel Rogers entered the game in the eighth as a pinch hitter for Leske and hit a hard hit ball at the shortstop to advance Luzzo to second and score Wohlers from third for the second run of the inning. Fennelly continued to assert his dominance at the plate, driving in two runs on an RBI double with two outs and scoring Rogers and Luzzo to give the Duhawks a 15-8 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.

The Storm cut their deficit to four runs after a three-run bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Sefit and an RBI single from Ty Crowley. The third run of the inning crossed home on a bases loaded RBI single up the middle but the effort came up short as the Duhawks took a 15-11 victory to split on the day. 

The Loras bullpen was on display in game two with Erik Edminster making the start on the mound, throwing 1.0 innings allowing three runs on two hits before Davis Pasco came in at relief. Pasco dished 3.2 innings and allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts. Owen Funke tossed 2.0 innings and allowed only two runs on four hits with two strikeouts on the night before Julian Lopez got the call and struck out two batters, giving up three runs on three hits. Peters made his second appearance of the day on the bump, throwing the last 1.1 innings of the game with two strikeouts and only one hit allowed. 

Fennelly led the Duhawks to victory with four RBIs in the game, scoring two runs and going 2-5 on the night. Wohlers and Luzzo each added two runs apiece while Egan, Church and Rogers notched one RBI each. Luzzo led the Duhawks with three hits on the night while Fennelly and Wohlers each recorded two hits at the plate. 

The Duhawks will face the Storm in the second doublheader of the series on Saturday, Apr. 3 at 2:00 PM. First pitch is scheduled at 2:00 PM in Indianola, Iowa.