Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563- 588-7970 (written by Nolan Devriese, Athletic Communications Student Assistant)

Apr. 8, 2021 – Matching up against its first ranked opponent of the season, the Loras College baseball team (11-5, 8-4 A-R-C) came up short in the first two games of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) series against No. 25-ranked Coe College (15-2, 13-1 A-R-C) on Friday, dropping the first game 8-3 before coming alive in the nightcap with a thrilling comeback charge but falling at the hands of the Kohawks, 9-8.
 
The Kohawks opened the series with a 4-0 lead in the first inning but the Duhawks got on the board in the third after Alex Kelsch lined a double off over the center fielder's head and moved to third of a sac fly from Joe Egan. Kelsch made it home off another sac fly by Luke Fennelly. The Kohawks saw another burst in the fourth, posting three more runs, but a triple from Dylan Pardoe got him in position to score off a single by Daniel Rodgers to make the score, 7-2. In the top of the fifth, Coe posted a doubled and scored off a wild pitch to pull ahead, 8-2. In the bottom of the fifth, Kelsch stayed hot at the plate and get himself another double, followed by one for Fennelly to score Keslch from second. Neither team got anything going in the final two innings and the Kohawks came away with the 8-3 win.
 
Kelsch, Dakota Church and Max Cullen each had two hits and Fennelly tallied two RBIs. Lillenthal recorded three strikeouts in 3.1 innings and Davis Pascoe also saw action in the game, throwing four strikeouts in 3.2 innings.
 
In the second game of the double header, the Kohawks took a 2-0 lead off a single before the next batter up hit a home run to score two, but Erik Edminster would cruise for another three innings on the mound, not giving up a hit during those innings. Heading into the bottom of the third, Chris Constantino singled to right center and stole second to get into scoring position before moving to third off a sac fly by Egan. Cullen singled through the left side and would get his first RBI of the day, bringing Costantino home, cutting the lead to one run. Heading into the top of the fourth inning, the Kohawks rattled off seven of their own and build on their lead, 9-1, but the Duhawks responded in the bottom of the sixth with Costantino reaching on a walk and advanced to second off a single by Alex Kelsch. Egan singled up the middle and brought Costantino in and Kelsch to third before he scored off a wild pitch.
 
Loras was looking to spark a comeback with Fennelly singling to left and driving in Egan then advancing to third on the throw. He then scored off a passed ball from the catcher. Cutting Coe's lead, 9-5, with the run, the bottom of the seventh is where the Duhawks were ready to making a move as Pardoe walked and then advanced to third off a single by Rodgers. Church hit a hard double to right center, scoring Pardoe and getting Rodgers to third before Constantino came in clutch for the Duhawks with a single up the middle to earn himself two RBI's and cut the lead to one. Neither team found a groove in the eighth inning thanks to solid pitching by Owen Funke and Ethan Peters kept it rolling in the ninth with three strikeouts for a quick start to the inning, but the Duhawks came up just short as the Kohawks displayed stellar pitching of their own for three strikeouts, claiming the 9-8 win.
 
Costantino scored twice in the second game and posted two hits along with Egan, Cullen, Church and Kelsch. At the mound, Ryan Wohlers had four strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched, only allowing three hits while both Funke and Peters allowed no hits in their closing innings.
 
The Duhawks will host Coe on Sunday Apr. 11 for the last two games of the series. First pitch on Sunday is set for 2:00 P.M. at Petrakis field.