Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243 (written by Zak Talbot, Athletic Communications Student Assistant)
 
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Apr. 23, 2022) – The RV Loras College baseball team (25-8, 9-8, A-R-C) opened up a three-game stretch in Cedar Rapids on Saturday afternoon as they took on the Coe College Kohawks (16-15, 10-8 A-R-C) in an American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) road series. The Duhawks earned a 4-1 victory in game one behind a record-setting performance on the mound by Ethan Peters, who became the all-time saves leader with his tenth save of the year to bring his career total to 16, and narrowly dropped the second game, 2-1.

The Duhawks got off to an early lead in the first game of the day as Luke Fennelly started the game off trotting to first base after being hit by a pitch. After some action on the base path, Max Cullen recorded his first hit of the afternoon with a one out single that would bring Fennelly around to score.

Defense would be the name of the game for both teams through the majority of the game. Duhawk starting pitcher Matt Jeter worked through 5.2 innings in which he allowed only two hits and no runs. Jeter also recorded two strikeouts in his outing but the Kohawks scraped one across the board in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The tying run for Coe gave short-lived hope as the Duhawks immediately responded in the top of the eighth inning. Ryan Wohlers found himself on first quickly after a four-pitch walk. After a bunt and two wild pitches, Wohlers found his way home to regain the lead for Loras. The Duhawks were not satisfied with just one run as pinch runner Michael Garrett scored as well on a later wild pitch to bring the lead to 3-1 in favor of the Duhawks. Still with one out, the Duhawks took advantage of more mistakes by the Kohawks as Dakota Church score on a failed pickoff attempt by Coe. The run would be the last for both teams in the early slated game, as Ethan Peters recorded the save to finalize the 4-1 win for the Duhawks.

The first two innings of the second game remained scoreless before the Duhawks broke the stalemate in the top of the third inning. With an out on the side, Fennelly was plunked by a pitch to reach first before stealing second with two outs and Cullen at the plate. Cullen knocked in Fennelly from second with an RBI single up the middle to see the Duhawks take the 1-0 lead. 

After a scoreless fourth, the Kohawks grabbed the lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded walk to tie the game before a wild pitch brought home their second run of the inning, a lead they held on to through the end of the game to split on the day.

Davis Pasco got the start on the mound and dished 5.0 innings, allowing the Kohawks' only two runs on four hits with three strikeouts to his name before Erik Edminster closed the game out. Edminster threw the final 3.0 innings of the game, keeping the Kohawks off the board and allowing only one hit with a strikeout. The Duhawks had five hits in the game, led by Cullen who went 2-for-4 with the Duhawks' lone RBI in the game. Rogers had the Duhawks' only extra-base hit in the game with a double in his 1-for-2 performance at the plate while Egan and McCallum added a hit apiece.
 
The two sides are set to meet back up in Cedar Rapids on Sunday, Apr. 24 at 2:00 PM to close the three-game series out.