Contact:
Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (Mar. 20, 2022) - After a dominant outing on Saturday in a non-conference doubleheader against the Cornell College Rams (3-8, 0-0 Midwest), the No. 22 Loras College baseball team (16-0, 0-0 A-R-C) wrapped up the three-game road series on Sunday with an 11-6 win to secure their 16th win in a row, sweeping the Rams and outscoring them by a 46-11 margin in the series.
Cornell got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single but the Duhawks came right back in the top half of the next inning, scoring seven of their own with all seven scoring with two outs in the inning. After the two lead off batters got out,
Ryan Wohlers followed with a walk to bring
Joe Egan to the plate, who hit a single through the left side of the infield. With two runners on base, McCallum followed Egan's lead and hit a single through the left side of his own to score Wohlers from second and put two runners on for
Luke Fennelly. An infielder error saw Fennelly reach base and advance to second, moving McCallum to third and scoring Egan for the second run of the inning. A wild pitch then moved Fennelly to third and brought home McCallum before
Dakota Church hit a hard shot to second base to score Fennelly from third. Church then made his way to second on a wild pitch before
Max Cullen hit a single through the left side to bring home Church and move on to second on the play on a left fielder error. With Cullen in scoring position,
Daniel Rogers drew a walk to put two runners on for
Dylan Pardoe, who hit a double to left field to score Cullen and put two runners in scoring position with
Chris Costantino due at the plate. Costantino drew a walk to load the bases before another wild pitch in the inning scored Rogers for the seventh run of the inning, putting the Duhawks up 7-1 early.
The Rams grabbed three points back in the bottom half of the third inning to cut the deficit to three runs before the Duhawks continued to extend their lead in the top of the fourth. Rogers led the inning off with a single into the gap in left center field before Pardoe roped a double into left field to put two runners in scoring position for Costantino, who grounded out to shortstop and scored Rogers to bring the score to 8-4 after four.
Loras continued to put runs on the board in the fifth inning as McCallum led the inning off with a double to left center before advancing on a Fennelly fly out into the outfield. Church brough home McCallum on an infield single before Church stole second to put a runner in scoring position for Rogers, who hit a single through the right side to score Church from second and take a six run lead at 10-4.
The Duhawks' final run of the game came in the top of the sixth inning as Wohlers drew a walk to kick off the inning before Egan hit an infield single to put runners on first and second. McCallum loaded the bases a batter later after being hit by a pitch to bring up Fennelly, who reached on a fielder's choice and scored Wohlers on the play. Cornell brought two more runs home in the bottom of the same inning to bring the score to its final 11-6.
Matt Jeter got the start on the mound for the Duhawks, throwing 3.0 innings and allowing four runs on six hits, striking out three before
Davis Pasco made an appearance in relief. Pasco dished 3.0 innings of his own, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts before
Ethan Peters came in to close out the game where he threw the final 3.0 innings, striking out four to keep the Rams at bay without allowing a hit.
Pardoe led the Duhawks' bats with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, hitting two doubles and driving in one RBI while Church helped with a 2-for-5 day with a pair of RBIs to his name.
The Duhawks are back in action on Friday, Mar. 25 as they open American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) action against the Luther College Norse. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 PM in Decorah, Iowa.
