CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (May 12, 2023) – Loras College baseball is now just one win away from an American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Tournament Championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Tournament after upsetting top-seeded Buena Vista University on Saturday afternoon.

The third-seeded Duhawks (28-15) are now 3-0 in the postseason and are on the cusp of their first ever A-R-C Tournament title after a 9-6 win over the Beavers (30-8).

After a stellar opening day that saw the Duhawks earn two wins by 10 runs each, the bats stayed hot in the first inning as five runs came home before Loras had even taken the field on defense. In the top of the first, four hits and a costly Beaver error pushed the five runs home as junior Daniel Rogers, freshman Cody Sunny, and senior Ryan Wohlers all tallied RBIs.

The Duhawks knew they would have to score early and often against the high-powered Beaver offense, and that theory proved correct as the opposition plated two runs of their own in the bottom half of the first. After an RBI single in the second from junior Nick DiBenedetto, Buena Vista added another in their half before getting two more on a two-run homer from Grant Oseka, making it a 6-5 ballgame.

Things began to settle down after that as the next batch of offense didn't come until the top of the sixth inning when Rogers sent a no-doubter, two-run homer to right field to make it 8-5.

After the Beavers chipped away again with a lone run in the bottom half, the Duhawks got one more in the top of the eighth on an RBI double for senior Dakota Church, which proved to be enough as senior reliever Ethan Peters came on in the eighth and completed a six-out save, his sixth of the year, to send the Duhawks on to Saturday's championship.

Freshman starter Max Vaisvila took the loss in his regular season start against the Beavers, but grinded out four innings of work in the tournament on Friday before giving way to senior Matt Jeter. Together, the two allowed 11 hits and just five earned runs before handing it over to Peters with a chance at a save.

The top three in the Duhawks' batting order all tallied multi-hit games, including a 2-for-4, three-RBI performance from Rogers that included his two-run homer and his 19^th double of the season, which sets a single-season record at Loras. Rogers' homer was his second of the tournament as his 10^th this season, which leads the A-R-C.

The Duhawks will play on Saturday, May 13, in the A-R-C Championship against either Buena Vista, Luther College, or the University of Dubuque at 12:30 P.M. Loras must be beaten twice by the advancing team, with the "if necessary" game scheduled for 3:30 P.M. on Saturday.