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

WAVERLY, Iowa (May 2, 2021) - The Loras College baseball team (18-10, 13-9 A-R-C) took on the Wartburg College Knights (13-9, 11-15 A-R-C) Sunday afternoon for an American Rivers Conference doubleheader. The Duhawks claimed game one by a one-run margin followed by the second game of the day that was forced into extra innings after a four-run eighth inning sparked by a two-run homerun from the bat of Dylan Pardoe but the Knights took game two to split the day. 

The Duhawks got off to an immediate start in the top of the first inning of game number one as Joe Egan started the game by reaching first on a walk. After a pair of outs, Pardoe hit a double to deep left center that score Egan from first to put the Duhawks up 1-0 before the Knights responded in the bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk. 

After a scoreless second inning, the Duhawks added another run in the top of the third after Luke Fennelly led the inning off with a double to the gap in left center, later to be driven in on an RBI single from Dakota Church. An RBI double in the bottom half of the inning from Wartburg's Zachary Walton tied the game back up at 2-2. 

The top of the fourth inning saw Alex Kelsch reach base on a single to the outfield to bring Egan to the plate, who reached first on an error to put two runners on base for Fennelly. With one out in the inning and two runners on, Fennelly hit a three-run shot to give Loras the lead once more. Another run crossed the plate after Pardoe saw himself on second on a double and was driven in by Church on an RBI single to center field. As had been the case all game, Wartburg responded in the bottom half of the same inning by putting three runs on the board to cut the margin to just one run after four innings of play. 

The score remained unchanged until the top of the sixth inning after Fennelly reached first on a single to center field. With two outs in the inning, Pardoe continued his solid outing at the plate with a triple to the gap in left center field to score Fennelly and give the Duhawks a two run lead. Sticking to the same script, Wartburg tacked another run on in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI double to bring the game to the final 7-6 score. 

Fennelly and Pardoe dominated at the plate, both going 3-4 in the game with Fennelly driving in three runs and Pardoe driving in two. Church added to the Duhawks' offense with a 2-3 performance with two RBIs. 

Matt Jeter got the start on the mound for Loras, throwing 3.0 innings and allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts before Julian Lopez got the call. Lopez dished one inning, allowing three runs on two hits, striking out two of the six batters he faced. Ethan Peters recorded his fifth save of the year, throwing 3.0 innings with six strikeouts, allowing only one run on two hits. 

Game two saw Wartburg take an early lead in the bottom of the first inning but the Duhawks quickly answered in the top of the second after Church drew a walk to get on base and advancing to second on a Bill Luzzo single to center field to put two runners on the path. Chris Costantino followed Luzzo and reached on a fielder's choice to advance Luzzo to second, seeing the Knights throw out Church advancing to third to bring Ryan Wohlers to the plate. Wohlers hit two-out bomb over the outfield wall for a three-run homerun to give Loras a 3-1 lead after the top half of the second. The lead was cut short, however, as the Knights put three runs of their own on the board in the bottom of the second. 

Wartburg extended their lead to two runs in the top of the third inning on a solo homerun but the two-run lead was quickly cut to one after Egan grounded out to shortstop with Costantino on third, going on to score to bring the score to 5-4. Another run crossed the plate for the Knights in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI double. 

Max Cullen led the top of the fifth off with a double to right field, later to score on an RBI double from Pardoe. A sacrifice fly out from Church advanced Pardoe to third and Costantino reached base after being hit by a pitch, both later going on to score on an RBI single to the shortstop off the bat of Wohlers to tie the score back up at 6-6 before the Knights responded again in the bottom of the inning by adding two more runs to their side. 

After holding the Duhawks scoreless in the top of the sixth inning, Wartburg drove two more runs across the plate to extend their lead to four runs at 10-6, where the score stayed until the top of the eighth inning. Cullen led the inning off with a single to left field to bring Pardoe up to bat, who turned on a ball and hit a two-run shot to cut the Knights' lead to two. With one out in the inning, Luzzo reached on a single, followed by Daniel Rogers who put two runners on base after drawing a walk. Kelsch did the same with two outs in the inning, loading the bases for Egan after drawing a walk where Egan took advantage and drove in two on an RBI single to right field to tie the game again at 10-10 late in the game. 

With the score still tied at the end of the ninth inning, the game was forced into extra innings where the Duhawks went ahead by one in the top of the tenth inning on an RBI single to left field from Fennelly to give the Duhawks an 11-10 lead going into the final half inning of the game. Wartburg prevailed after scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning to take game two by a narrow one run margin at 12-11. 

Wohlers had a wildly impressive game offensively, going 4-6 in the game with four RBIs with a homerun. Pardoe notched a homerun of his own, going 2-3 with two RBIs. Fennelly and Cullen each went 3-7 at the plate with Fennelly adding an RBI to his name.

Marshall Rice made the start on the mound in game two, putting in 5.0 innings of work, allowing eight runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts before Erik Edminster came in at relief. Edminster threw 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Peters closed out the game and recorded 1.1 innings pitched, allowing two runs on three hits with one strikeout. 

The Duhawks are set to face the Knights again on Monday, May 3 as they close out the season series in Waverly, Iowa. First pitch is slated for 3:30 PM.