DAVENPORT, Fla. – A full day of travel, an early game, and an opponent that is unfamiliar. This typically isn't a recipe for success, but the Duhawks found a way to cook up two wins as they swept the Marymount University Saints on Sunday. It was the first two games for Loras in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

Game One
Marymount (9-4, 0-0 AEC) jumped out to an early lead, scoring on a two-out single in the bottom of the first. After that, it was radio silence from both offenses, as a pitcher's duel became the theme of the contest. Duhawks' starting pitcher, Austin Sheldon, quickly found his groove after the first inning. Sheldon gave the Purple and Gold five innings of one-run baseball, and it only felt like a matter of time before the bats started coming around.

Sure enough, it did, and it did in a hurry.

Colin Kissane reached on an error, and just one batter later, he was waved around by Justin Gutierrez as the senior managed to smoke a single into the outfield grass, which tied the game 1-to-1. From this moment forward, it was all Dirty Birds.

The following inning, Max McCallum worked a walk and was sent to third on a double by Cody Sunny. With two runners in scoring position, Kissane only needed one pitch to give Loras (7-3, 0-0 A-R-C) the lead, as he poked a single into right-center, scoring both runners.

The Duhawks got some insurance on a double from Vince McDowell and were able to collect three more runs in the seventh. Casey Kedzierski finished off the Saints and the Purple and Gold earned their first win in the Sunshine State, 6-2.

Game Two
Yet again, Loras found themselves in a hole early, as Marymount possessed a four-run lead heading into the bottom of the third inning. The resilient Duhawk squad was not done fighting though, as mayhem ensued just a half-inning later.

Three straight hits from Trevor Segraves, McCallum, and Sunny scored one, and runners stood on second and third with only one out. Kissane was up at the dish and hit a ground ball to the Saints' first basemen. Instead of stepping on first and getting Kissane out, the Marymount player unleashed a throw home, aimed at getting Segraves out and saving a run. Instead, the throw was wide right of the catcher, and both Segraves and Sunny would score, cutting the deficit to only one for Loras. But that was only for one batter, as Gutierrez again found open turf in the outfield, scoring Kissane on a double and knotting the game up once again.

Marymount would retake the lead in the fifth, but it was short-lived for the Saints, as they accrued too many base running errors to keep up with the Duhawks. Kissane deposited a no-doubt home run into deep left field and tied the game back up, only for Jackson Cullen to score on a single from Jake Olszewski. The Purple and Gold never looked back, and held on to the 6-5 victory, securing a sweep in the process.

The Bottom Line
Loras' first all-time meeting with Marymount was a success, and they have now procured seven straight victories, their most consecutive wins since 2022.

On Deck: The Duhawks take on the Osprey of Stockton University in a standalone contest, March 10 at 9:00 a.m. central time in Winter Haven, Fla.