WAVERLY, Iowa-- Wartburg moved to 17-2 on the year and 7-1 in Iowa Conference play with its 14-3 and 11-8 sweep over Central Saturday.



In the first game of the day, the Knights took the early 4-0 lead as sophomore Jake Thumann (DeWitt) drove in junior Tyler Willis (Waverly) on his RBI double and then senior DJ Utley (Cedar Rapids) hit a three-run homer. The Orange and Black tallied two in the fourth and three in the fifth. Senior Blake Wilson (Bettendorf) hit a leadoff roundtripper in the frame and Wartburg used four RBI singles to score the other two runs.

Two more runs were plated by the Knights in the sixth and then Thumann hit a three-run home run of his own for the final runs.

The Dutch compiled a late rally in their last at-bats as they scored on a bases clearing double.

Willis went 3-4 with three runs scored in this game. Sophomore Max Langheinrich (Minnetonka, Minn.) pitched six innings and struck out four.

In the finale, Utley gave the Orange and Black the early lead with his grand slam in the first. Central plated one in the second and Wartburg scored two in the second to make the score 6-1.

Wilson drove in Thumann and junior Ryan Kemp (Keokuk) on his RBI single to left field for the Knights' two runs in the fourth. Each team scored one in the sixth as Utley tallied his second home run of the game.

The Dutch scored four in the seventh on five hits to make the score 9-6. They made it a one-run game in the top of the eighth as they scored two to make it 9-8.

Utley tied the single game school record with his third home run of the game with his solo shot in the eighth. He tied the mark set by Jake Shandri against the University of Dubuque on March 25, 2007.

The next batter, Wilson, also hit a solo homerun for the final run of the game for Wartburg.

Utley finished 3-4 with a career-high six RBIs.

The Knights return to the field Tuesday when they host Luther in a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.