DUBUQUE, Iowa-- The Wartburg softball team (11-15 overall, 2-0 IIAC) swept Loras (9-11, 0-2) 10-1 and 7-4 Thursday to start the Iowa Conference portion of its schedule 2-0 for the first time since 2008.

Sophomore Erica Countryman (Plainfield, Ill.) extended her hitting streak to 13 games and has reached base safely in the last 16 straight contests. Classmate Katie Sommer (Cedar Rapids) increased her hitting streak to eight.

In the opener, the game was scoreless until the fourth when freshman Liz Roby Miklus (Ankeny) drove in classmate Kailee O'Brien (Altoona) on her single to second base to take the 1-0 lead. The Knights plated four in the fifth and three in the sixth to extend their lead to 8-0.

The Duhawks scored their lone run of the game on an RBI single in the sixth. The Orange and Black tallied their final two runs of the game in the seventh on a wild pitch and an RBI ground out.

O'Brien and sophomore Mara Forsyth (Charles City) both went 3-4 at the plate and classmate Kimberly Wedeking (Clarksville) pitched her ninth complete game of the season to earn the win. Sommer also stole three bases which was just one shy of the single game school record.

In the finale, Wartburg took the early lead again, this time on a two-run homer by freshman Hannah Blaske (Bettendorf) in the first. Loras tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Forsyth helped the Knights reclaim the lead with her two-run single.

The Orange and Black added to their lead again with two runs in the fourth. Loras plated a run in the fifth and sixth but was unable to overtake the deficit.

Countryman went 3-4 and sophomore Emily Carroll (Marble Rock) earned the win as she had her fifth complete game of the year

Wartburg returns to the field Saturday when they host Buena Vista at 1 p.m.