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

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (May 14, 2022) - The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) AQ Tournament wrapped up in Cedar Rapids on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium as the RV Loras College baseball team (32-11, 15-9 A-R-C) met back up with the Wartburg College Knights (25-20, 12-12 A-R-C) for the second time of the weekend. With both teams vying for a spot in the championship against Coe College, the two A-R-C rivals went to battle through nine innings of ball, but the Knights narrowly prevailed as the Duhawks' season drew to a close. 

Wartburg struck first in the top of the first inning as the Duhawks worked themselves out of a bases-loaded jam, allowing only one run on the side before tying the game up in the bottom of the third. Dakota Church led the inning off with a single into the gap in left center to bring up Luke Fennelly, who reached base on a perfect bunt down the third base line to put two runners on base. A Max McCallum sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position for single season doubles record holder Max Cullen to bring home Church on a single through the left side of the infield to bring the score to 1-1. 

The top of the fifth inning saw the Knights bring home three runs to take the lead once more but the Duhawks' bats came alive an inning later. With an out on the side, Dylan Pardoe roped a double into left center field before Nick DiBenedetto drove him in on a two-out single up the middle. A bad pick-off move saw DiBenedetto make his way to second before he was joined on the bases by Ryan Wohlers who took a pitch off the body. A fielder's choice off the bat of Church brought home DiBenedetto for the second run of the inning to pave the way for Fennelly to line a single up the middle for an RBI single of his own that tied the ball game back up at 4-4. 

The bats stayed hot for Loras in the bottom of the seventh inning as Cullen led the inning off by wearing a pitch before Daniel Rogers put a ball into the outfield for a single to put two runners on for Pardoe. A sacrifice bunt from Pardoe moved runners up to second and third for Joe Egan, who hit a hard grounder at the pitcher that scored Cullen on the play for the go-ahead run and putting the score at 5-4 in favor of the Duhawks. 

The Knights came back in the top half of the eighth, however and took a two-run lead before tacking on another insurance run in the top of the ninth to hold off the Duhawks with a final score of 8-5. 

Matt Jeter got the start on the mound for the Duhawks where he dished 4.0 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with four strikouts before Ethan Peters came in to relieve. Peters put in 4.0 innings of his own, also allowing four runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Senior Julian Lopez capped off his career in the purple and gold closing out the final inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced. 

Both sides tallied nine hits in thhe game with the Duhawks led by Fennelly and DiBenedetto, who both went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Pardoe hit the Duhawks' lone extra base hit on his sixth inning double while Wartburg had only two doubles of their own as the two sides played a game of short ball. 

The Duhawks' season comes to a close as the winningest baseball team in program history in the 27th season at the helm under head coach Carl Tebon. With an at-large bid up in the air, the Duhawks will learn their fate in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship on Monday, May 16.