Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

INDIANOLA, Iowa (Apr. 3, 2021) – The Loras College baseball team (11-5, 8-4 A-R-C) swept the final two games of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) series against Simpson College (5-9, 2-6 A-R-C) on Saturday, holding on for a 1-0 win in the first game before capitalizing on hot bats and strong base running to secure an 11-4 victory in the second game of the twin bill in Indianola.

The first game saw neither team get on the board until the third inning when Luke Fennelly reached on an error by the pitcher and made his way to second on a stolen base. A single to right center by Max Cullen brought Fennelly home to give Loras a 1-0 lead and it was all either team would score throughout the rest of the game. Matt Jeter had a strong showing on the mound, throwing six innings and recording five strikeouts with only two hits and no runs scored. Cullen, Pardoe, Danny Rogers and Dakota Church all registered a hit in the win with Rogers hitting a double in the fourth inning.

In the nightcap, Fennelly got the Duhawks on the board again after hitting a triple on his first trip to the plate and scoring off a groundout by Cullen. The Storm added a run of their own in the first inning to tie it 1-1 and took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second off an error. In the fourth, Fennelly reached on a single up the middle, advanced to second on a bad throw and made his way to third on a foul out to the first baseman before scoring after Rogers reached on an error.

With the score tied 2-2, Bill Luzzo walked to start the fifth inning and a single by Alex Kelsch moved him to third, setting him up to score off a Joe Egan single. Egan's hit moved Kelsch to third and he scored off a passed ball to go ahead 4-2 in the inning. Fennelly reached on an intentional walk on his next at bat and a single by Pardoe brought Egan home with the RBI and moved Fennelly to third. Rogers hit a double on his next at bat, bringing Fennelly home, and scored on the next play off an error by Simpson's shortstop. The Duhawks closed out the inning with five runs to take an 8-2 lead.
The Storm tacked on two runs in the bottom of the inning, but it was all they would muster for the remainder of the game as Church hit a triple to get on base and a sac fly by Chris Constantino brought him home for another Duhawk run in the seventh inning. In the eighth, Fennelly reached on a bunt and advanced to second on a fielder's choice before making his way around the bases to third on a balk. A walk for Pardoe with Cullen on second had the bases loaded for the Duhawks and Rogers hit a single to shortstop, scoring Fennelly, before Cullen scored off a sac fly to first base by Church. The Duhawks did not add on any in the ninth but kept Simpson from scoring as well to hold on for an 11-4 win.

Fennelly was a perfect 5-5 at the plate, scoring four runs. At the mound, Marshall Rice threw five innings, coming away with two strikeouts and giving up four runs on nine hits.

The Duhawks host Coe College on Friday, Apr. 9 and Saturday, Apr. 10 for the next A-R-C series. Game one on Friday is set to begin at 3:30 P.M. at Petrakis Field.