Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications (563-588-7970)
Written by Zak Talbot, Athletic Communications Student Assistant

PELLA, Iowa (Mar. 29, 2022) - Through a double-header seeing cold temperatures and harsh windchill, the No. 16 Loras College baseball team (19-2, 3-2 A-R-C) still found it in themselves to stay hot both in the dugout and on the field with two wins against the Central College Dutch (9-6, 0-5 A-R-C). The Duhawks saw the bats warm up in both games, rattling off a combined total of 25 runs on the day.
 
The Duhawks jumped out of the gates quickly in the first game of the series, scoring one run in the top of the first. A two out single from Max Cullen tallied the first of twelve hits in the game for the Duhawks. After advancing on a wild pitch, Cullen was batted in off a double to center field by Daniel Rogers.
 
However, the Dutch plated two runs in the bottom of the first and tacked another on in the second, holding a 3-1 lead until the third when the Duhawks rallied for seven runs. Leading off the inning, Dakota Church reached on an error by the Dutch before Cullen roped his second hit of the day for an RBI double, sending Church in to score. Cullen quickly added another run after Rogers hit his second RBI and double of the game. Rogers found his way around the bases off a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch, tying the game but the Duhawks were not satisfied with the one run lead as Chris Constantino scored off a single into right field by Joe Egan. Max McCallum followed suit with a single of his own, loading the bases for Luke Fennelly, who hit a double to score two more runs. The top of the third saw one more Duhawk run off a sacrifice fly from Church and after batting through the lineup, the Duhawks sat with a commanding 8-3 lead.
 
A handful of errors helped the Duhawks plate four more runs in the top of the fourth. With Dylan Pardoe and Constantino on, Ryan Wohlers reached on an error, bringing in Pardoe. Egan grounded into a fielder's choice to the shortstop who committed a throwing error, allowing Constantino to score. McCallum helped increase the Duhawk lead with his first RBI of the night, and was quickly followed by Fennelly's second double of the day, giving him three total RBI's on the game.
 
The Dutch would plate two runs in the fifth inning, seeing starting pitcher Erik Edminster off for what would become his third win on the season. Edminster pitched 5.0 innings in which he struck out three batters and allowed five runs off eight hits. Relief pitcher Julian Lopez finished off the game, getting the save with three strikeouts and only one run off of four hits. The Duhawks added one more run in the game in the top of the ninth as Fennelly scored on an RBI single from Cullen. The 13-6 win brought the Duhawks back to an even record in A-R-C play and gave them more momentum heading into the second affair of the evening.
 
Pitching reigned supreme for the Duhawks in the nightcap against the Dutch. Matt Jeter saw the start on the bump, in which he would go for five full innings striking out four batters and only allowing two hits. Confident from Jeter's work on the defensive side, the Duhawks once again found the sweet spot on their bats on the offensive side.
 
Fennelly singled to lead off the game, and was quickly brought home off a single from Pardoe. The third inning saw similar energy from the Duhawks offensively, starting with an RBI single from Cullen to bring Fennelly in for his second run scored on the evening. Pardoe tallied another RBI to his stat sheet as he doubled to right field to bring Cullen around the bases. The strong third inning was capped off by a one out, two RBI single from Constantino to bring the score to 5-0.
 
In the fourth, Fennelly's third plate appearance saw his third hit of the game as this one screeched over the outfield wall for his first home run of the season. Pitching stayed strong for the Duhawks, leaving the Dutch scoreless through four innings.
 
With the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning, McCallum grounded out but recorded his first RBI of the game, increasing the lead to 7 runs. Fennelly stayed hot in the game, recording his fourth hit and another RBI as he found himself on base from an infield single. The last of the Duhawks' runs came in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI from Wohlers. A wild pitch and a McCallum double scored three more runs, building the lead to 12-0.
 
Pitchers Curtis Lilienthal and Ethan Peters each stepped on the mound for the sixth and seventh inning, respectively. Both pitched shutouts and Peters struck out the side to retire the Dutch batters and wrap up the second game of the double header in seven innings.
 
The Duhawks' two wins finalized their first full month of baseball as they look to continue success into the coming months. Loras will close out the Central series on Apr. 5 but will first contend with Buena Vista University with the first game of the series coming on April 1. First pitch in Storm Lake, Iowa is scheduled for 6:00 P.M.