Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243
 
May 2, 2022 – A day after earning a comeback win and a walk-off to take the series-opening doubleheader, the RV Loras College baseball team (29-8, 13-8 A-R-C) looked to button up the series against American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) rival Wartburg College (21-17, 11-10 A-R-C). The Duhawks were catapulted to their first series sweep of the season by senior hurler Ryan Wohlers, who dished a complete game on the mound, earning his sixth win on the season as the Duhawks took down the Knights 7-3. The win marks the Duhawks' first season sweep over the Knights since the 2018 season.
 
The score stayed at a deadlocked 0-0 at the end of the first inning before the Knights put the first run on the board in the top of the second on a solo shot by Caleb Andrews, but the Duhawks immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning. Catcher Daniel Rogers led the inning off by drawing a walk on full count before Dylan Pardoe stepped into the box with two outs and Rogers on second. Pardoe lined a single into the gap in right center to put runners on first and second for designated hitter Chris Costantino, who put another ball into right center to bring around Rogers to tie the game at 1-1 at the end of the second inning.
 
A scoreless third saw the score still tied at one apiece going into the bottom of the fourth inning where senior outfielder Joe Egan roped a single into left field on the first pitch of the inning. With Nick DiBenedetto at the plate, Loras skipper Carl Tebon signaled for a hit-and-run that proved to pay off as DiBenedetto hit a single with Egan on the move, making his way to second on the play as Wartburg attempted to throw out Egan as he slid into third. With two runners in scoring position, Pardoe hit a ground out to the second baseman to move the runners, bringing home Egan on the play to take the lead for the first time of the game. A batter later, Costantino followed suit and hit an infield groundout that brought home DiBenedetto for the Duhawks' second run of the inning. Dakota Church kicked off his stellar day at the plate with a two-out single up the middle to put a runner on the base path with Fennelly due at the plate. Fennelly roped a comebacker to Wartburg pitcher Drayton LaVeine, who sailed the throw over the first baseman's reach, bringing Church all the way around the diamond to score the third run of the inning and giving the Duhawks a 4-1 lead midway through the game.
 
The Duhawks kept the momentum rolling in the bottom of the fifth inning as Wohlers kept the Knights' bats in check, not allowing a run through the fifth inning. Behind in the count 0-2, Max Cullen took a pitch off the back to reach first before Rogers roped a full count single into right field to join on the bases. With an out on the side and two runners on, DiBenedetto stayed hot at the plate and lined a single up the middle of the infield to score Rogers and Cullen to further pull away at 6-1.
 
Wartburg sparked a slight comeback in the top of the sixth inning, scoring two runs after Max Goodhue led the inning off with a triple to deep right center field on the first pitch of the inning, but the effort fell short as the Duhawks continued to tack runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning as Church smashed a homer over the fence in left field to seal the deal on the 7-3 victory.
 
The Duhawks' bats rifled off 12 hits in the game, led by Fennelly who had a stellar 3-for-5 outing at the plate while DiBenedetto added two hits and two RBIs. Church went 2-for-4 on the day, scoring a pair of runs with an RBI. Costantino did his part at the plate in the designated hitter spot, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs to his name.
 
Wohlers dominated on the bump, tossing a complete game while allowing only three runs on 10 hits, fanning six batters and walking one to improve to 6-2 on the year.
 
The Duhawks return to Petrakis Park on Friday, May 6 as they play host to the Simpson College Storm in their final series of the regular season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM.