COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Duhawks found themselves with multiple opportunities to win this past weekend, but it seemed lady luck couldn't have been further away from the Purple & Gold. Westminster found the timely hits when they needed them, and Loras dropped a trio of battles down in The Show-Me State.

Game One
The Duhawks gave themselves an early lead in the top of the second inning after Vince Polizzi singled and came around to score on an RBI fielder's choice courtesy of Alex Sandoval.

However, all momentum was swiftly taken by the determined Blue Jays, who responded with an onslaught of runs by way of the long ball. A two-run home run in the bottom of the second was all Westminster (4-3, 0-0 SLIAC) needed, and they'd only add on.

A homer in the third, and a four-run bottom half of the sixth all but sealed the deal against a sluggish Duhawk offense.

Cody Sunny pushed across a run in the eighth, and Justin Gutierrez went 2-for-4 but it was to no avail as the Purple & Gold couldn't overcome the slow start, dropping game one, 7-2.

Game Two
Once again, Loras (0-3, 0-0 A-R-C) couldn't gain any traction with the bats early, as the first nine batters of the contest for the Duhawks were retired.

However, the fourth inning felt different, with the bats suddenly awakening from their winter hibernation. Max McCallum reached on a hit-by-pitch and was waved around as Sunny knocked him in with a signature RBI double. Gutierrez would follow suit with an RBI single, and suddenly the Duhawks were up 2-1.

But the Blue Jays kept chugging along and went right back to work with a timely two-run home run to retake the lead in the fifth inning.

It wasn't until the top of the ninth that either team scratched a run across, and it couldn't have been any more important for Loras. With one out, Aidan Herrick delivered a massive ground-rule double, that was followed up by a game-tying RBI single for Colin Kissane. Andrew Krause shut down Westminster in the bottom half of the inning, and we had free baseball in Columbia!

The bats stayed rolling in extra innings, with Sandoval reaching on a walk, Trevor Segraves hitting a single, and Sunny drilling a two-out double to score them both. Victory was within reach for the visitors.

The Blue Jays had other plans. All six batters reached for Westminster in extras, with two reaching on hits, two on walks, and one on an error. The nail in the coffin was a passed ball that ended the game in walk-off fashion, 6-5.

Game Three
The script was certainly flipped in the third contest, with Loras scoring five in the top of the first, and Westminster answering with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the same inning.

The combination of Daniel Giusto, Bode Bregar, Ben Shea, and Kayden Shivers was able to keep the Blue Jays at arm's length, and with the help of phenomenal hitting performances by Sunny, Kissane, and Nolan Czako, it seemed that the Purple & Gold were poised for their first win of the year.

Unfortunately, yet again, the Duhawks couldn't close it out. The game-tying run scored on an RBI sacrifice fly for Westminster, and with one out in the bottom of the ninth, a passed ball determined Loras' fate yet again.


Up Next: The Purple & Gold will travel to Rantoul, Ill. for a trio of games. The first of which is on Saturday, March 1 against Northland College at 3:30 p.m., followed by a a pair of games on Sunday, March 2 taking on Wisconsin Lutheran College at 11:00 a.m. and Augustana at 2:30 p.m.