DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Loras College baseball team (21-10 overall, 10-5 American Rivers) inched up the American Rivers Conference standings with a pair of victories over Coe College (20-12, 13-4) at Petrakis Park on Saturday. Late game heroics led to a walk off 8-7 victory in the first game, before an offensive barrage earned Loras an 18-4 run rule victory in the second game.
Game One
The Kohawks jumped out in front with a 2-0 lead after plating the game's first two runs at the top of the first inning. The Purple and Gold got going at the bottom half of the inning when
Daniel Rogers' single out to left field scored
Max McCallum to trim the deficit to one.
Coe responded with a RBI double at the top of the second to go back up two, but Loras would even things up with RBIs from
Jackson Cullen and
Diego Huerta at the bottom of the second.
The Kohawks took the lead once again in the third inning off an RBI single before adding to the lead in the fourth with an RBI double to go up 5-3.
After a scoreless fifth, the Duhawks found themselves back in the action after
Cody Sunny ripped off a two-RBI double to right field, scoring Rogers and
Nick DiBenedetto to tie things up at five-all. Sunny would later advance home after an RBI single by
Alex Sandoval, which gave the Purple and Gold its first lead of the day. The lead didn't last long, as Coe went deep with two home runs in the seventh inning to go back on top, 7-6.
Down to its last three outs after a scoreless eighth inning, Loras found itself in a do-or-die situation with the top team in the A-R-C entering today's play. Batting first in the ninth was Sandoval, who reached on single to right before
John Cornelius subbed in to pinch run.
Aidan Herrick, pinch hitting for
Diego Huerta, singled to right center, advancing Cornelius to third base and setting up the tying run just 90 feet away.
Colin Kissane pinch ran for Herrick at first and was able to reach second thanks to a passed ball. McCallum then grounded out to short, which allowed Cornelius to score from third, thus tying the game at 7-7. A groundout by
Trevor Segraves set Loras up with Rogers up to bat, but Coe countered by intentionally walking the slugger.
With two outs, DiBenedetto stepped up to the plate and delivered an RBI single down the left field line that managed to just stay fair, scoring Kissane and giving the Duhawks the walk off victory.
McCallum, Rogers, Sunny, and Sandoval each went 2-for-4 at the plate, with Sunny leading the team with his two RBIs.
Austin Sheldon started on the mound and pitched six innings, striking out four along the way.
Kayden Shivers picked up the win, his second of the season, after pitching the final three frames, striking out four of the 11 batters he faced.
Game Two
The nightcap was all Loras, as the Duhawks ripped off 15 hits en route to the 18-4 run rule victory.
Loras started off the game hot, scoring eight runs in the first inning of play. Rogers kicked things off with an RBI single, followed by Sunny with a two-RBI singe through the right side. Sandoval jumped in on the party with an RBI single of his own to push Loras up, 4-0.
Segraves then singled up the middle, scoring Sunny, before Coe's center fielder botched a popup to center field, which allowed Sandoval to score and pushed Loras' lead to six. Cullen rounded out the first inning fireworks with a two-RBI single towards third base, giving the Duhawks the 8-0 advantage.
Vince Polizzi kept the scoring streak going in the second inning after doubling to left center, picking up an RBI.
Vince McDowell then slapped a two-RBI double to right center to extend Loras' lead to 11. Segraves follwed that up with a single up the middle, scoring McDowell before McCallum's double down the left field line scored Segraves from second to close out the inning up, 13-0.
The bats stayed hot in the third inning, as Sunny's single to right scored DiBenedetto. Loras went up 15-0 after Polizzi scored off a groundout from Sandoval.
Coe managed to get on the board in the fifth inning, scoring three runs to cut into the deficit, before scoring a fourth run in the sixth inning off an RBI groundout.
The Purple and Gold put any hope of avoiding a run rule to rest after scoring its final three runs of the game in the sixth inning. A bases-loaded walk brought home the first run, with back-to-back sacrifice flies from Rogers and DiBenedetto closing out the game and giving Loras its highest scoring total in a single game this season.
Segraves put together a great performance at the plate, as the Valencia, Calif., native went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Sunny and Cullen each recorded three RBIs to lead the team, while Segraves, Polizzi, and DiBenedetto each scored three runs of their own to lead the way.
Andrew Krause earned the start and went five innings deep, striking out two and only allowing three runs over that stretch. With the win, he moves to 3-2 on the season.
UP NEXT
The Duhawks will take to the road for doubleheader action against Wartburg College on Tuesday, April 23. First pitch from Waverly is set for 3:30 p.m.
