CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Facing elimination in the second day of the American Rivers Conference Baseball Tournament, the Loras College Duhawks downed the Luther College Norse, 14-2, on Friday evening at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

With the win, the Duhawks (25-17 overall) will face the second-seeded Buena Vista University Beavers tomorrow at 11 a.m. The winner of Saturday morning's match up will go on to face the top-seeded Coe College Kohawks for the conference crown.

The first inning was filled with fireworks for the Duhawks, as Loras was able to push six across home plate. The opening frame started with a single by Max McCallum, followed by Jackson Cullen and Nick DiBenedetto each reaching base via a walk and hit by pitch.  

Cody Sunny would then connect on a two-RBI double that found its way to the corner I right field, scoring McCallum and Cullen for the first two runs of the game. Vince Polizzi pushed the third run across after his single through the left side scored DiBenedetto.

Sunny found his way home after Jack Carney's RBI single up the middle before Alex Sandoval would drive in the fifth run of the inning with an RBI single to left, scoring Polizzi. McCallum, batting for the second time in the top half of the first inning, connected on a single that scored Carney for the sixth and final run of the inning.

Starting on the mound was TJ Boyd, who completed the picture-perfect inning by striking out two and not allowing a hit.

The hits kept coming for the Purple and Gold, as Sunny plated two more in the second inning with a two-RBI single to left to extend Loras' lead to 8-0.

Following a bunt by Trevor Segraves at the top of the third inning, Cullen collected his first RBI of the day with a double to deep right center, scoring Segraves and pushing the lead to nine.

The Norse (28-15) plated their first run at the bottom half of the third inning, but a rain delay would halt action for the next forty-plus minutes. Despite the break, Loras' bats stayed hot as McCallum (1), Cullen (1), and DiBenedetto (2) each picked up RBIs to extend the Purple and Gold's lead to 13-1.

Sandoval started the fifth inning with a single to left before Segraves got on base via a walk. McCallum loaded the bases with a single up the middle of the infield. Cullen then grounded into a double play, which allowed Sandoval to score from third to push across Loras' 14^th run of the day.

Luther plated one run in the bottom of the seventh, but Boyd was able to pick off a runner at second and retire the final batter on a groundout to pitch a complete game and advance the Duhawks further into the A-R-C tourney. 

McCallum finished the day leading the team in hits with four, while Sunny led the way with his four RBIs. Nine different Duhawks collected a hit, with six reaching at least two hits. Boyd, who picked up his fifth win of the year, struck out five batters while only allowing six hits.