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

May 6, 2021 - The Loras College baseball team (20-12, 15-11 A-R-C) continued their busy week of action as they played host to the Norse from Luther College (25-9, 21-5 A-R-C) in a twin bill of baseball on Thursday evening. After falling in game one of the day, the Duhawks tallied their 20th win of the year with a commanding 7-2 victory in game two, handing the Norse their ninth loss of the season.

The first three innings of the game were nothing short of a pitchers' duel, as neither side was able to drive a run across the plate before the Norse scored two in the fourth inning on a two-run homer. The homerun was the only scoring play of the game as both teams only had a combined nine hits in the seven innings played. 

Julian Lopez made the start on the mound for the Duhawks, recording five strikeouts and only allowing two runs on five hits in 6.0 innings pitched before Erik Edminster closed the game out. Edminster faced the last four batters of the game, striking out two and walking one in the final inning of the game. 

Game two saw the Duhawks get off to a hot start from the jump, with Joe Egan getting things going with a lead off single to right field to bring Luke Fennelly to the plate. Fennelly reached on a perfect bunt to put two runners on for Max Cullen, who loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. With the bases juiced, Dylan Pardoe lined a double to right field to bring home Fennelly and Egan to give the Duhawks a 2-0 lead. Daniel Rogers extended the lead to three runs a batter later on a groundout to first base that scored Cullen from third to bring Dakota Church to bat. Church brought home Pardoe from third on an RBI single to right field to round out the dominant first inning and give Loras a 4-0 advantage. 

After a pair of three-up, three-down innings for both sides, the Duhawks tacked on another insurance run in the bottom of the fourth inning as Bill Luzzo led the inning off with a single to the gap in left center field. A one out double by Alex Kelsch put Luzzo on third and two runners in scoring position for Egan, whose groundout to shortstop scored Luzzo to pad the Duhawks' lead at 5-0 at the midway point of the game. 

A half inning later in the top of the fifth, Luther scored their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly out to bring the score to 5-1 before the Duhawks widened the lead further in the bottom of the inning. With an out in the inning, Pardoe smacked a single up the middle and was joined by Rogers, whose single to left center put two runners on the path for Church. A rope down the left field line from Church scored Pardoe from second and kept runners on first and second. Ryan Wohlers stepped into the box with two outs and two runners on base and lined a double to left field that scored Rogers from second to give the Duhawks a six run lead at 7-1 after five innings of play. 

The last run of the game came in the top of the sixth inning in favor of the Norse on a sacrifice fly that scored the runner from third to bring the score to its resting place at 7-2. 

Matt Jeter recorded his fourth win of the season in a solid 7.0 inning performance on the mound. Jeter racked up six strikeouts, allowing only two runs on six hits before Owen Funke threw in the eighth inning, facing only three batters and allowing no runs on no hits with a walk. Ethan Peters dished the final inning of the game, striking out one of the three batters faced to solidify the victory for the Duhawks. 

Jeter and the Duhawks held the Norse to only six hits while getting off 12 of their own, led by Pardoe, Church and Luzzo who each notched two hits apiece with Pardoe and Church driving in 2 RBIs each. Egan, Rogers and Wohlers helped the Duhawks offensively by adding driving in a run each. 

The Duhawks are set to face the Norse in the final two games of the series on Saturday, May 8. First pitch is slated for 1:00 PM at Petrakis Field in Dubuque, Iowa.