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

WAVERLY, Iowa (May 3, 2021) - The Loras College baseball team (19-11, 14-10 A-R-C) was back on the campus of Wartburg College (14-20, 12-16 A-R-C) as they faced the Knights in the final doubleheader of the series on Monday evening. Battling in the wind in rain, the Duhawks settled for a split after falling in game one, seeking vengeance in game two with a commanding 7-2 victory. 

The first game of the day saw the two American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) foes hold each other scoreless in the first inning of the game before the Knights drove in a run on an RBI single through the right side of the infield to take a 1-0 lead. 

The Knights held the lead until the top of the fourth inning when Luke Fennelly led the inning off by reaching first after being hit by the pitch. With Max Cullen at the plate, Fennelly stole second to get into scoring position, later to have two runners on base as Cullen reached on a walk. The two runners advanced to second and third on a pitch that made it past Wartburg catcher Carter Stubitz. Dylan Pardoe brought Fennelly home on a groundout to the shortstop to tie the game at 1-1 after four. 

After holding the Knights scoreless in the bottom half of the fourth inning, the Duhawks looked to make a comeback in the top of the fifth as Chris Costantino got things going with a lead-off single up the middle. Costantino found himself caught in the base path trying to steal second, but Wohlers kept the momentum going forward by driving a single to right field to put another runner on base with Alex Kelsch due at the plate. Kelsch put two runners on for Fennelly after reaching first on a single through the right side. With two outs in the inning, Fennelly reached on a hard hit ball to third base, scoring Wohlers and giving Loras a one run advantage at the end of the fifth. 

The score remained at 2-1 in favor of the Duhawks until a Wartburg RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the score still tied in the bottom half of the ninth, the Knights closed out the game with a 3-2 victory on an single to center field that brought the winning run across the plate. 

Cullen, Wohlers and Kelsch each notched two hits apiece at the plate with Fennelly and and Cullen both recording an RBI in the game. 

The Duhawks held the Knights to just five hits in the game as Davis Pasco started the game on the mound and pitched 7.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Owen Funke closed the game out with 1.2 innings pitched, allowing one run on one hit with a strikeout to his name. 

Game two saw the Duhawks get off to a hot start right off the bat, with Fennelly and Pardoe each reaching base on a pair of singles. Dakota Church loaded the bases for Daniel Rogers after drawing a walk, setting Rogers up to hit an RBI double to right field that scored Fennelly and Pardoe to give Loras a 2-0 advantage early. 

An inning later, Wohlers led off with a single to left field and stole second, advancing to third on the steal on another error by Wartburg's Stubitz. With a runner on third, Fennelly hit a deep ball to the gap in right center field to record a triple and score Wohlers to pad the Duhawks' lead to three runs. Wartburg matched by scoring a run of their own in the bottom half of the second on a sacrifice fly that scored a runner from third. 

Two innings went by before either side scored a run, with the Duhawks breaking the stalemate on a two-out RBI single from Rogers that scored Church to widen the Duhawks' lead at 4-1. The bottom half of the inning saw the Knights notch another run in their favor on an RBI single that scored the runner from second. 

A three-run top of the sixth inning for the Duhawks slammed the door shut on the game as Wohlers led off by drawing a walk. With Kelsch at the plate, Wohlers advanced to second on a passed ball later to put two runners on as Kelsch walked. Joe Egan put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance both runners to scoring position on second and third to bring Fennelly to the plate, who loaded the bases on an intentional walk. With two outs in the inning, Pardoe came in clutch to score two more insurance runs on a single to centerfield that scored Kelsch and Wohlers. The final run of the inning came in the form of an RBI single to right field off the bat of Church that scored Fennelly to take the score to 7-2 and give the Duhawks the victory. 

Rogers led the bats in the second game of the day, going 2-3 at the plate with three RBIs while Pardoe added two RBIs of his own with a 3-4 performance. Fennelly and Church both posted two hits on the day with an RBI apiece to help drive the Duhawks past the Knights. 

Curtis Lilienthal got his second win of the year, throwing 4.1 innings on the bump, allowing only two runs on five hits with two strikeouts. Funke shook off the game one result to close out game two, earning his second save on the season with a 2.2 inning performance, holding the Knights to just two hits with two strikeouts to his name. 

The Duhawks are scheduled to host the Luther College Norse on Thursday, May 6 in their last home series of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 PM at Petrakis Field in Dubuque, Iowa.