AUBURNDALE, Fla.- The Royals halted the fiery Duhawk bats and found hits when they needed them most to dominate the game and deliver the Purple and Gold their first loss in Florida, and their first loss in over two weeks.

It was a rough start for the Duhawks, who allowed a run to come across in the top of the first on a pop-up that could not be fielded after some miscommunication between the third basemen Justin Gutierrez and the catcher Jake Olszewski.

Trends continued in the wrong direction as the game continued. The freshman Bethel (6-3, 0-0 MIAC) pitcher was able to go six and two-third innings, only allowing five hits and keeping Loras (8-4, 0-0 A-R-C) at bay by striking out seven and walking none.

Kayden Shivers entered the contest as the Duhawks trailed 6-0 in the top of the fifth, seeking to work the Purple and Gold out of a jam, with runners on second and third and nobody out. The sophomore was able to escape the inning unscathed and added on two more innings of scoreless baseball to boot, which was a definite bright spot for Loras.

Furthermore, the Dirty Birds found a little bit of life in the bottom of the seventh from their bats, as they accumulated a single from Jackson Cullen, who came around to score on an RBI single from Vince Polizzi. Polizzi then scored on an RBI error to center field, hit by the sophomore Olszewski.

But that was really the extent of the offensive performance, as the Royals would bury the Duhawks over the final two innings, obtaining two more runs and finishing the contest off with their reliever not allowing a single hit over those two innings as well.

Senior second baseman Trevor Segraves spoke about the team's performance in Auburndale, "I think this can be a great experience for our guys. It's a good reminder that we're only human. The next step is how we bounce back on Thursday… (and) I have a lot of faith in this team and moving forward, we will only learn from this experience."

The Bottom Line
In spite of a poor performance Tuesday, Loras sits at 3-and-1 heading into the break of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with three games remaining. This team has also bounced back from an 0-3 start by winning eight of their past nine games, their best response to a sweep since 2010, where they rattled off seven straight victories.

On Deck: Loras takes on the Yellow Jackets of University of Wisconsin-Superior in Winter Haven, Fla. First pitch is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. central time.