PELLA, Iowa – The Duhawks manufactured 13 runs on 13 hits, five of which were dingers, en route to their conference opening win, 13-7.

The Purple and Gold got off-and-running in the second, with Colin Kissane drilling a deep shot to left-center, giving Loras (7-6, 1-0 A-R-C) a lead that they'd never relinquish.

Alex Sandoval, Jack Carney, and Jackson Cullen would go station-to-station before they'd eventually be aided by Kissane once again, knocking in his second homer of the game to give the Duhawks a 5-0 advantage.

Some answers were found against Daniel Giusto for Central College (4-9, 0-1 A-R-C) but they were few and far between, as Giusto tied his career high for strikeouts in a game with 10, and eventually bowed out after 5.2 innings and just two earned runs allowed.

Loras fended off a comeback effort by the Dutch, thanks to another home run from the junior Kissane in the seventh, this time scoring two runs, and capping off his historic evening. All-in-all, the Orland Park, Ill. native would go 3-for-4 with three homers and six RBI, tying a record that was set in 2022 for home runs in a single game.

Ben Shea and Cody Sunny iced the ballgame with two more long-balls, one solo shot and one grand slam, and with the help of Carson Hammer, who shut down Central's offense, the Purple and Gold secured their first conference victory.

Quick Tidbit: Kissane has now hit eight home runs, which is tied for the most in all of Division III baseball. Loras has 20 home runs in total, which is tied for 14^th in Division III as well.

On Deck: The Duhawks have the final two games of the series tomorrow versus Central in Pella, Iowa. First pitch of game two is set for 1:00 p.m.