April 18, 2023 – After taking the first two games of the series at the University of Dubuque on April 5, the Loras College baseball team completed the season sweep of its crosstown rival on Tuesday with a dominating 10-1 win at Petrakis Park.

The Duhawks (19-10, 11-4 A-R-C) earned their eighth straight win in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play on Tuesday night as the win over the Spartans (19-9, 9-8 A-R-C) also marks the first time that the Duhawks have swept a regular-season series with Dubuque since 2015, when they won all four matchups.

Despite the Duhawks' dominance, it was actually the Spartans that struck first when an RBI double in the top of the third inning plated one run, but a perfect relay from junior right fielder Nick DiBenedetto and senior second baseman Mitch Gruber cut down the second would-be run at the plate to end the inning.

That play at the plate proved pivotal as the Spartans were held scoreless for the rest of the game while the Duhawks used that momentum to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning when DiBenedetto drove in a run on a bases loaded fielder's choice.

Loras started to blow things open in the fifth inning when four hits helped plate three runs as junior Daniel Rogers, DiBenedetto, and freshman Cody Sunny tallied RBIs to give the Duhawks a 4-1 lead. The offense didn't let up after that as senior Dakota Church belted a two-run home run in the sixth inning to make it 6-1 in favor of the Duhawks.

Things were just getting started as DiBenedetto again made an impact by leading off the seventh inning with a solo homer, his third of the season. That hit sparked a four-run inning that saw sophomore Jack Carney, senior Ryan Wohlers, and Church add RBIs during a six-hit frame.

Freshman Max Vaisvila picked a fine time for what might be his best performance of the season as he pitched six innings and earned the win after allowing just one earned run on five hits. Sophomore Danny Hiemer followed Vaisvila's lead and earned the save by pitching three scoreless innings to finish off the game as he allowed just two hits and struck out three Spartan hitters.

Loras will look to keep this hot streak rolling in a weekend series at Central College, starting with a single game on Friday, April 21 at 3 P.M. in Pella, Iowa.