Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243
 
STORM LAKE, Iowa (Apr. 2, 2022) – Opening the series Friday night with a 1-0 victory, the No. 16 Loras College baseball team (21-3, 5-3 A-R-C) continued the three-game stretch in Storm Lake on Saturday afternoon against the Buena Vista University Beavers (12-8, 4-2 A-R-C) in a midday matinee. The Duhawks dropped game one but came back to split on the day and take the series two games to one with a 14-9 victory in game two of the day to win their 21st game of the year.
 
The Duhawks wasted little time getting on the board in game one of the afternoon, bringing a run home in the top of the second inning as Dylan Pardoe found the gap in right center for a one-out triple before coming home on a sacrifice fly out off the bat of Joe Egan. Loras held the 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third inning as the Beavers plated a pair of runs on RBI singles from Kyle Corcoran and Evan Taylor to take the one-run lead at 2-1 after three innings of play.
 
Buena Vista's lead was short-lived as Max Cullen drove a double into left center to bring Daniel Rogers to the plate. In the first pitch of his at-bat, Rogers crushed a homerun over the right field wall to bring the score to 3-2. The Beavers responded in the bottom of the same inning, scoring three on an RBI double and a two-run homer off the bat of Grant Oseka to take a two-run lead again at 5-3.
 
The score remained unchanged through three innings of scoreless ball before the Duhawks drove in another run in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit to just one as Dakota Church reached on a walk with an out in the inning. A pair of wild pitches advanced Church to third before Cullen brought him home on an RBI single into center field, but as had been the story earlier, the Beavers scored two more in the bottom of the inning on another two-run shot to center field to secure the 7-4 win.
 
Matt Jeter got the start on the mound for the Duhawks, dishing 3.2 innings and allowing five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts before Julian Lopez came in at relief. Lopez tossed 3.1 innings and struck out four, allowing a run on two hits before head coach Carl Tebon turned to Nick DiBenedetto, who faced three batters and allowed a run on a hit with a strikeout to his name. Danny Hiemer closed out the game, facing three batters and allowing a hit and a walk.
 
The Duhawks recorded seven hits in the game with Cullen, Rogers and Pardoe each going 2-for-4 at the plate. Rogers led the Duhawks with a pair of RBIs while Cullen and Egan added one apiece.
 
In game two of the afternoon, the Duhawks jumped right on the Beavers in the top of the first inning as Church hit a shot over the wall in right field to go up 1-0. With one out on the side, Cullen's discipline at the plate saw him draw a walk on full count with Rogers due up at the plate. Rogers hit the Duhawks' second homer of the inning, hitting a two-run blast to right field to go ahead 3-0. A one-out double followed by an RBI single put the Beavers on the board in the bottom half of the same inning to bring the score to 3-1 at the end of the first.
 
In the top of the second inning, the Duhawks continued to pile on the runs as Chris Costantino led the inning off with a walk before Max McCallum reached on a bunt to put two runners on the base path. With an out in the inning, Church roped a single into left field to load the bases for Cullen, who hit a double down the left field line that scored all three runners on base. A batter later, Rogers stepped into the box with Cullen on second and hit an RBI single to score Cullen and widen the lead to six runs at 7-1 after two innings of play.
 
The Duhawks kept the runs coming in the top of the third inning with Tyler Pransky leading the inning off after wearing a pitch to reach first. Joe Egan put two runners on base with a single up the middle before both runners advanced on a passed ball with Costantino at the plate. With two runners in scoring position, Costantino hit a grounder to first and scored Pransky on the play to give the Duhawks a comfortable 8-1 lead at the end of the third.
 
For the fourth inning in a row, the Duhawks plated a run with Church reaching base after being hit by a pitch in the leadoff spot before reaching third on a Cullen double to the gap in left center. With an out in the inning and two runners on, Pardoe hit a sacrifice fly out to right field, seeing Church tag-up on the play and score the Duhawks' ninth run of the game. In the bottom half of the inning, the Beavers drove in five runs on five hits, scoring all five on RBI singles to come back and cut the Duhawks' lead to just three runs in the midway point of the game.
 
Buena Vista continued to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Beavers' Oseka stole home as Church threw out a runner trying to steal second to bring the score to 9-7 at the end of the fifth.
 
In the sixth inning, Church reached base on a costly throwing error that saw him make his way all the way to third on the play, coming around to score a batter later on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cullen, going back up by three at 10-7. As had been the story all game, the Beavers answered in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring twice on an RBI triple and a ground out that scored a runner, coming back within one at 10-9 with three innings left to play.
 
The Duhawks continued to put pressure on the Beavers in the top of the seventh inning with Pransky leading the inning off with a double into right center before Costantino lined a single into center field to put runners on the corners with McCallum due at the plate. Michael Garrett came in to run for Costantino on first as McCallum loaded the bases after taking a pitch off the body to bring up Luke Fennelly with only one out in the inning. Fennelly hit into a fielder's choice that brought home Pransky from third to give the Duhawks a two-run lead at 11-9 at the end of the seventh.
 
Three more runs crossed the plate in the top of the eighth inning as Cullen drew a walk to lead the inning off before Rogers roped a double down the right field line to put two runners in dangerous position on the base path for Pardoe, who scored Cullen from third on a comebacker off the bat of Pardoe that hit off the pitcher's shin. Rogers came around to score from second a batter later as Pransky put a single into left field for the second run of the inning, forcing the Beavers to make their second call to bullpen in the inning. With a new pitcher on the bump, Egan reached on a fielder's choice while Pransky made it into second on a fielding error by the shortstop. Garrett sealed the deal on the win with an RBI single to left that scored Pransky and brought the score to its final at 14-9.
 
Wohlers started on the mound for the Duhawks and put in 5.0 innings of work, allowing seven runs on eight hits with six strikeouts. Erik Edminster made an appearance in relief and faced three batters, allowing a pair of runs on as many hits before Ethan Peters came in to close out the game. Peters struck out four and gave up only one hit as he made his way to his seventh save of the year.
 
The Duhawks' bats were hot in game two, posting 15 hits in the game with four doubles and two homers in the game, led by Rogers who went 4-for-6 with a home run, a double and three RBIs in the game. Cullen had a stellar day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and four RBIs while Pardoe followed with a pair of RBIs to his name.
 
Conference action continues for Loras on Tuesday, Apr. 5 as they play host to the Central College Dutch in their home-opener. The Duhawks look to sweep the Dutch in the series after taking both games of the series-opening doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM at Petrakis Park.