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

RIVER FOREST, Ill. (Apr. 15, 2021) - Coming off of a 10-0 victory over the No. 25 Coe College Kohawks, the Loras College baseball team (14-8, 9-7 A-R-C) squared off against the Dominican University Stars (5-15, 0-4 NACC) on Thursday for an early afternoon non-conference doubleheader. The Duhawks tallied a total of 18 runs between the two games to breeze by the Stars for their third-straight win. Freshman Daniel Rogers had a career day at the plate with a career-high five RBIs, going a perfect 5-5 at the plate in game one. 

The Duhawks wasted no time putting runs on the board in the first game, putting up five straight in the top half of the inning after Joe Egan led off by reaching base on an error that was followed up by a bunt for a single from Luke Fennelly to put two on the base path for Max Cullen. Cullen drilled a double to right field to score Egan from second and put Fennelly on third. Rogers stepped into the box with runners in scoring position and cleared the bases on a two RBI single to bring the score to 3-0. A pair of singles from Dakota Church and Bill Luzzo followed to load the bases for Chris Costantino, who grounded into a double play but scored Rogers from third for the fourth run of the inning. The fifth run crossed the plate by way of a wild pitch to bring the score to 5-0 but Dominican responded with one of their own in the bottom of the inning. 

Rogers racked up another RBI on the day in the top of the second on a two out RBI double to right field that scored Cullen from first after he reached on a single through the left side of the infield to go ahead 6-1 after two. 

The bottom of the third inning saw the Stars add another run to their total on a sacrifice fly that scored a runner from third to cut the deficit to four runs before the Duhawks tallied their seventh run of the game in the top half of the fourth inning on an RBI single from Rogers. 

The score remained unchanged for the next two innings before the Duhawks' offense sparked again in the top of the sixth inning with Cullen reaching first after drawing a walk with one out. Rogers continued his impressive outing with a single to the gap in left center field to put two runners on, advancing to scoring position on a passed ball with Church at the plate. Church brought the two runners across the plate on a two RBI double down the left field line. With Jack Enright pinch hitting for Luzzo, Church advanced to third on a balk and went to score on a sacrifice fly from Enright to take a 10-2 lead going into the seventh inning. 

The seventh inning saw the Duhawks add three more runs to their already wide margin on after Cullen reached base on an infielder error with Ricky Leske and Nick DiBenedetto on base. The error on the play brought Leske across the plate and put runners on the corners for Rogers, who notched his fifth RBI of the game on an RBI center to center field to score DiBenedetto. The final run of the game crossed home on an RBI single from Church that scored Cullen from second to take the game to its final 13-2 score. 

Ryan Wohlers made the start on the mound for the Duhawks and threw 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with one strikeout before head coach Carl Tebon turned to Julian Lopez to close out the game. Lopez put in 4.0 innings of work and allowed no runs on six hits, striking out two. 

Rogers led the Duhawks' offense going a perfect 5-5 at the plate with five RBIs followed by Church who went 3-5 with three RBIs. Cullen and Enright each added an RBI apiece to the onslaught to help the Duhawks cruise past the Stars in game one. 

Game two saw the Duhawks get off to an early jump once again, putting up two runs in the top of the first inning after Egan hit a lead-off double before a Fennelly ground out brought Cullen to the plate. Cullen lined an RBI double to score Egan from second for the first run of the inning. Church followed and hit a single to left field to advance Cullen to third for Luzzo, who hit an infield single to score Cullen and give the Duhawks an immediate 2-0 advantage. 

The momentum evened out in the middle portion of the game as a pitchers duel ensued before the Stars put two runs on the board in their favor to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

After a scoreless seventh inning the Duhawks took off again in the top of the eighth, scoring three straight runs with two outs. The first run of the inning on an RBI double from Cullen that score DiBenedetto from third, who reached earlier in the inning on an infield error. Church followed Cullen's double by drawing a walk to bring Luzzo back to the plate, who reached on an error to load the bases for JD Mettham. Mettham showed discipline at the plate and drew a walk to bring Cullen across the plate for the second run of the inning with Costantino due up to bat. An RBI single to left field off the bat of Costantino brought the third run of the inning home to take the score to 5-2 where it stayed through the end of the game. 

Davis Pasco got the start on the bump for the Duhawks and threw 5.0 innings, tallying five strikeouts and allowing only two hits before Erik Edminster made an appearance in relief. Edminster faced one batter and allowed two runs on one hit before Ethan Peters got the call to the mound. Peters threw 1.2 innings with one strikeout for the win and Matt Jeter earned a save with 1.0 innings pitched and striking out one of the four batters he faced. 

Egan went 2-2 at the plate in game two, drawing one walk and scoring one run while Cullen went 2-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Luzzo, Mettham and Costantino each added an RBI apiece to secure the Duhawks' second win of the day. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Friday, Apr. 23 as they host the Central College Dutch in an American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 PM at Petrakis Park in Dubuque, Iowa.