DUBUQUE, Iowa – Senior weekend came to a close with the Purple and Gold handling business in game two 20-9 in seven innings, but dropping an action-packed game three 22-15.

Game Two
Simpson College (11-15, 5-7 A-R-C) once again jumped out to an early lead, with a sacrifice fly scoring a run in the first frame of the contest. But, this time, the response was swift and overpowering from Loras (16-14, 6-9). The bottom half saw the trio of Max McCallum, Jackson Cullen, and Cody Sunny load the bases, setting up Vince Polizzi to smack a groundball into right center field that rolled all the way to the wall and cleared the bases. The Duhawks weren't done just yet, as Vince McDowell popped a single that scored Polizzi, and extended the lead to three.

One more run came from the Storm to begin the second, but an offensive explosion in the second and third from Loras buried the visitors. The Purple and Gold went off for seven runs, thanks to a pair of triples from Cullen and Sunny, and more clutch hits from Justin Gutierrez and Trevor Segraves.

The score was 11-2, but the Storm didn't go away so easily. The bottom of the fourth allowed Simpson to slowly crawl back into the game, and suddenly it was 11-7. Leave it up to the Duhawk bats, who worked hard to load the bases again in the bottom of the sixth, before punishing baseballs on their way to seven more runs.

Further production from the top third of the lineup, along with runs from Johnny Dwyer and Alex Sandoval culminated in a John Cornelius inside-the-park homerun. Suddenly, the run-rule was in play and the Purple and Gold would hold on to reach that mark in the seventh with Casey Kedzierski slamming the door.

Game Three
We knew from the jump that the rubber match was going to be a shoot-out. The Storm put up a whopping five in the first frame, with the Duhawks following suit and plating three of their own in the bottom half.

Simpson continued their pursuit of a series win with a dominating seven-run inning that forced the Purple and Gold to reach further and further into their bullpen, as Loras used three pitchers in their first two innings.

After three innings, there was a combined nineteen runs scored and it was 12-7 in favor of the visitors from Indianola, Iowa.

Back and forth both teams went, trading haymakers, but Loras just couldn't pull it close enough and couldn't keep the Storm off the scoreboard.

In spite of a 4-for-5 performance from Polizzi, a 3-for-5 performance from Segraves, and a 4-for-6 game from Cornelius, the Purple and Gold couldn't keep pace and would fall in game three, dropping the series for a consecutive season to the Storm.

We Playing Baseball, Right?
The Storm and the Duhawks combined for a jaw-dropping 87 runs in their three-game series. It was the highest scoring series of the year for the Duhawks and is one of the highest scoring series of all-time for Loras as well. Despite this, the Purple and Gold would drop two games and fall to 6-9 in American Rivers Conference play.

On Deck: Loras returns to action against Luther College on Tuesday, April 15 in Decorah, Iowa. The standalone contest is set to begin at 3:00 p.m.