WAVERLY, Iowa-- The No .19/21 Wartburg baseball team (28-8 overall, 21-3 IIAC) increased its winning streak to nine in the 5-3 and 18-12 sweep over Loras (12-22, 6-18) Sunday. The Knights also solidified a spot in the Iowa Conference tournament in two weeks. Seeds are still TBD.

In the first game, the Orange and Black took the 2-0 lead in their first at-bats on a sacrifice fly from senior Ryan Kemp (Keokuk) and a single from classmate Tanner Johnson (Oak Creek, Wis.). Wartburg added a run in the second before the Duhawks tied it at three all in the fourth.

Senior Milton Croes (Noord, Aruba) scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on a single to left field by sophomore Blake Mahoney (Des Moines) and junior Jake Thumann (DeWitt) tallied the last run on an RBI groundout by classmate Mike Brown (Bettendorf).

Mahoney went 3-4 in the game.

In the finale, both teams plated two in the first and Loras scored another two in the second to take the 4-2 lead. The Knights responded with a five-run third inning which included a two-run homer by Kemp and a two-run single from Mahoney. Thumann recorded his first of two doubles in the game in the fourth which drove in sophomore Zach Hovick (Roland) to make it 8-4.

The Duhawks used a seven-run fifth inning before the Orange and Black plated three in the bottom of the frame which tied it at 11-11. Wartburg took the lead for good in the seventh as Thumann scored on a throwing error before plating six in the eighth to seal the sweep.

Kemp went 4-6 with four RBIs and was a triple shy of the cycle.

The Knights conclude their regular season in the next series when they host Coe Friday at 3:30 p.m.