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

Apr. 10, 2022 - Opening the series with a pair of comeback wins, the No. 18 Loras College baseball team (23-5, 7-5 A-R-C) returned to Petrakis Park on Sunday afternoon to close out the three-game series against the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves (11-13, 4-5 A-R-C). Heavy winds blowing to the outfield saw four balls leave the yard in the game as the Duhawks dropped the series finale after a three-run rally in the top of the ninth inning saw the Prairie Wolves take the game 9-7 to avoid the series sweep. 

Derek Kolbush put the Prairie Wolves on the board in the first at-bat of the game on a solo homer to left field to put Nebraska Wesleyan up 1-0, a lead they'd hold until the bottom of the second inning as Dakota Church led the inning off with a base on balls. Church went on to move to second on a Tyler Pranksy ground out to bring up Chris Costantino, who knocked home Church on an RBI single to deep center field to tie the score at 1-1. 

Two more runs crossed home for the Prairie Wolves in the top of the third inning on a Riley Ward double to the gap in left center that scored two to bring the score to 3-1 after three innings of play. The Duhawks took the lead for the first time in the game in the bottom half of the fourth inning as Costantino hit a single to right field before advancing to second on a bad pick-off attempt by the pitcher. Joe Egan put runners on the corners a on a single into left field to bring up Luke Fennelly, who roped a home run over the wall in left field to see the score at 4-3 in favor of the Duhawks at the end of the fourth. 

Nebraska Wesleyan's Zach Osbahr tied the game back up in the top of the fifth inning on a solo shot to left field but the Duhawks responded in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of runs of their own. With an out in the inning, Daniel Rogers hit a single into right field before Dylan Pardoe put a double down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position for Curch. Rogers came home on a Church groundout to first base before Ryan Wohlers came in to the designated hitter spot once his day was done on the mound, hitting an infield single to the shortstop and scoring Pardoe to give the Duhawks a two-run lead at 6-4 at the end of the fifth. 

The top of the seventh inning saw two more runs score in favor of the Prairie Wolves on a pair of RBI singles before the Duhawks came back again in the bottom of the eighth inning as Wohlers led the inning off by wearing a pitch to reach first. A passed ball saw Wohlers make his way to second before Costantino laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Wohlers to third. With a runner in scoring position, Egan found the gap in right center to bring home Wohlers and give the Duhawks a late 7-6 lead going into the last inning of the game. 

The Prairie Wolves put two runners on base early in the top half of the ninth inning before Christian Harris was called in to pinch hit, taking advantage of his opportunity and putting a three-run home run over the left field wall to solidify the 9-7 win in favor of Nebraska Wesleyan. 

Wohlers got the start on the mound and threw 5.0 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts before Dylan Ackermann appeared in relief in the sixth inning. Ackermann walked two and struck out one before Ethan Peters closed the game out. Peters received his first loss of the year, dishing 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out four. 

The Duhawks' bats were led by Costantino, who had a perfect 3-for-3 performance at the plate, driving in one RBI while joined by Fennelly who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs on his three-run home run. Egan added another two hits in the game, going 2-for-4 with an RBI to his name as the Duhawks rifled off 11 hits while striking out only four times to the Prairie Wolves' 15. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Tuesday, Apr. 12 as they travel down the road to the University of Dubuque for a single-game matchup against the Spartans. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM.