Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243
 
Apr. 9, 2022 – In their first home series of the 2022 campaign, the No. 18 Loras College baseball team (23-4, 7-4 A-R-C) went toe-to-toe with the Prairie Wolves from Nebraska Wesleyan University (10-13, 3-5 A-R-C) in an American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) matchup. In game one of the day, senior closing pitcher Ethan Peters set the single-season saves record with his eighth of the season, placing him tied for second in program history with 14 saves to his name in his four-year career. After taking game one, the Duhawks posted a four-run rally in the ninth inning, capped off by a walk-off RBI single off the bat of freshman outfielder Max McCallum to see the Duhawks take both games of the series-opening doubleheader.
 
The first game of the afternoon began with a pair of scoreless innings for both sides before the Prairie Wolves struck in the top of the third inning after Evan Kling led the inning off with a single to right field before coming around to score on a Derek Kolbush RBI double to right field. With two outs in the inning, Riley Ward knocked in Kolbush from second, reaching base on a throwing error by shortstop Luke Fennelly to put the score at 2-0 going into the bottom of the third. The Duhawks grabbed one back in the bottom of the inning as Fennelly lined a triple down the right field line before being brought home by Dakota Church who reached on a fielder's choice to third base to cut the deficit to just one run at the end of the third.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan tacked two more runs on to their lead in the top half of the fourth as John Haimowitz hit a lead-off single through the right side of the infield before making his way to second a batter later on a sacrifice bunt. An error put runners on the corners for Kling who drew a walk to load the bases for Paul Georget, who hit an RBI double that brought two runs home to put the Prairie Wolves up 4-1.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, the Duhawks plated another run as McCallum led the inning off with a walk before Fennelly hit a double into left field to put two runners in scoring position. With one out in the inning, Max Cullen drove a sacrifice fly out into left field to bring home McCallum and see the score set a 4-2 at the end of the fifth inning.
 
The Duhawks' comeback began in the bottom of the seventh inning as Ryan Wohlers hit a lead-off double down the left field line before coming around to score as McCallum hit an RBI single and advanced on the attempted throw out at the plate. The Prairie Wolves were then forced to make a pitching change on the mound, one that proved not to pay off as Fennelly tied the ball game in the first at-bat with the new hurler, reaching on a throwing error as he laid down a bunt, advancing to second on the play as McCallum made his way across the plate. With Church at the plate, Fennelly stole third before Church drew a walk on a passed ball four call that saw Fennelly come home on the play. Church then stole second to put a runner in scoring position before Cullen moved him over to third on a ground out to second. Daniel Rogers drove in the game-winning run on a double down the right field line to bring home Church and solidify the 6-4 victory.
 
Davis Pasco got the start on the mound for the Duhawks where he dished 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out six before Danny Hiemer came in at relief. Hiemer put in an inning of work to pave the way for Curtis Lilienthal to pick up his first win of the season on the mound, facing a pair of batters while holding the Prairie Wolves scoreless in his appearance. Peters closed the game out, throwing the last two innings of the game and collecting his record-setting eighth save of the year, striking out three of the six batters he faced as he kept Nebraska Wesleyan off the board.
 
The Duhawks rifled off nine hits in the game, Fennelly and McCallum who each had two hits in the game while four Duhawks in Church, Cullen, Rogers and McCallum tallied an RBI apiece. Of the Duhawks' nine hits, six were extra-base hits on five doubles and a triple.
 
In the second game of the afternoon, the Duhawks got off to an immediate 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after McCallum drew a walk with one out before Cullen put two runners on base after being hit by a pitch. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch to Rogers before he connected with a pitch, lining a comebacker to the pitcher that scored McCallum from third.
 
Another run scored in favor of the Duhawks in the bottom of the second inning as Wohlers cranked a solo home run over the left field wall to put the Duhawks up by two runs immediately.
 
Two more insurance runs scored in the bottom of the fourth inning as Pardoe roped a single at the third baseman with two outs in the inning before Wohlers reached base on a dropped third strike scenario that put two runners on base for Chris Costantino, who hit a single into right field that scored Pardoe and put Wohlers on the corners for Joe Egan. A single through the left side of the infield off the bat of Egan brought home Wohlers for the Duhawks' second run of the inning and fourth of the game to go ahead 4-0 at the end of the fourth.
 
The Prairie Wolves scored their first runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning as Alex Angele drew a lead-off walk before Kolbush hammered a homer to right field to come within two at the end of the fifth inning. Six more runs crossed the plate in the top of the sixth inning as the Prairie Wolves' bats caught fire, scoring on seven hits to take a four-run lead at 8-4.
 
The Duhawks' comeback began in the bottom of the eighth inning as Pardoe and Wohlers drew back-to-back walks to kick off the inning before the Prairie Wolves put a new arm on the mound in Max Brammier. With two outs in the inning and two runs on base, Fennelly put a double down the left field line to score Pardoe and cut the Prairie Wolves' lead to three at 8-5 going into the final inning of the game.
 
With the game on the line, Cullen drew a walk to begin the ninth inning before the Prairie Wolves called on Riley Ward to pitch. In his first at-bat on the mound, Ward threw a pitch into the dirt and past the catcher to put Cullen on second before Church drew a walk to put runners on first and second for Pardoe, who hit a single into left field that loaded the bases. With Wohlers at the plate and bases loaded, Ward threw another pitch to the back stop that advanced the runners, scoring Cullen on the play. Wohlers loaded the bases once more on a walk before a carbon copy of the play prior saw Ward throw his third wild pitch of the inning, scoring Church on the play and putting runners on second and third. Nebraska Wesleyan skipper John Rypel called an intentional walk on Tyler Pransky to load the bases again with the Duhawks down only by one with Egan due at the plate. Egan grounded out to third, scoring Pardoe from third to tie the game and keep two runners in scoring position before, again, Rypel called an intentional walk on Fennelly that loaded the bases for McCallum. Continuing to be dangerous at the plate this season for the Duhawks, McCallum walked the game off with a single into the gap in left center, scoring Wohlers on the play and solidifying the 9-8 win.
 
Matt Jeter got the start on the mound for Loras in game two of the day, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Hiemer made another appearance in relief, facing only four batters and allowing three runs on three hits before Julian Lopez came in. Lopez allowed three runs on four hits, facing four batters of his own before Erik Edminster closed the game out and collected his fourth win of the season. In 3.1 innings on the mound, Edminster struck out two batters while allowing only one hit as he kept the Prairie Wolves in check.
 
The Duhawks' bats were led by Cullen, Pardoe and Egan, who each had two hits in the game while Fennelly and Wohlers recorded the team's only extra-base hits on a double and home run, respectively. Egan knocked in a pair of RBIs in the game while Wohlers' discipline at the plate saw him draw three walks on the day.
 
The two teams will meet back up on Sunday, Apr. 10 as the Duhawks look to complete the sweep over the Prairie Wolves. The single-game of the day is set to begin at 12:00 PM at Petrakis Park.