WAVERLY, Iowa-- The No. 12/16 Wartburg baseball team (31-9 overall) opens the Iowa Conference Tournament Thursday at 7 p.m. against the winner of fourth-seeded Coe and fifth-seeded Dubuque. Simpson will serve as this year's host as the tournament will be played at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids. The tournament champion receives the Iowa Conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division III Baseball Regional. Coe is the defending Iowa Conference tournament champion.



The Knights earned the top seed and the first-round bye after claiming their 18th outright and 21st overall championship. The Orange and Black last won the conference tournament in 2013, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last season.

Wartburg won every conference series which has never previously occured since the four-game format began in 2013. The Knights also set the IIAC record with 24 wins, breaking the record of 23 set by Luther in 1985.

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Tickets
Singleday tickets are $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for students with a college ID or younger. Iowa Conference faculty and staff may present their IDs for free admission as well. An "All Sessions" pass will be available as well at a price of $16.00 for adults and $8.00 for students. Tickets can be purchased in advance by contacting the Kernels office at 319-363-3887.

Wartburg
Senior Tanner Johnson (Oak Creek, Wis.) leads the team with his .371 average. Sophomore Clay Henning (Plymouth, Wis.) follows at .361, junior Jacob Thumann (DeWitt) is at .343, sophomore Zach Hovick (Roland) averages .333, senior Milton Croes (Noord, Aruba) is at .313, sophomore Blake Mahoney (Des Moines) is at .308 and senior Ryan Kemp (Keokuk) rounds out the above .300 hitters at .307.

Mahoney has 26 stolen bases and was two shy of the conference record, which has stood since 1990.

Thumann leads the team with 30 RBIs and 11 homeruns. He enters the weekend on an eight-game hitting streak and had a ten-game streak along with Henning earlier this season. Thumann has also reached base safely in the last 12 games and had a 14-game streak earlier this season. Henning reached base safely in 23 straight games (April 6-May 7)

Sophomore Tanner Eckhart (Monticello, Minn.) leads the starting pitchers with a 1.43 ERA and is 3-0 in 50.1 innings pitched. Junior Taylor Gilson (Oelwein) has a team-best 63 strikeouts.

National Stat Rankings
Wartburg is ranked in the top 100 of 11 national stat categories, the NCAA released Tuesday. The Knights are: eighth in walks allowed/nine innings (2.37), ninth in strikeout/walk ratio (2.91), 10th in win loss percentage (0.775), 17th in ERA (3.10), 21st in hits allowed/nine innings (8.40), 26th in fielding percentage (0.967), 46th in stolen bases (77), 47th in stolen bases/game (1.93), 63rd in home runs (23), 69th in home runs/game (0.58) and 92nd in strikeouts/nine innings (6.9).

Individually, Eckhart is 20th in ERA (1.43) and 41st in hits allowed/nine innings (6.62) while Gilson is 17th in wins (8).

Thumann is 13th in home runs (11), 19th in home runs/game (0.28) and 39th in slugging percentage (0.701).

Mahoney is 21st in stolen bases (26) and 27th in stolen bases/game (0.65).

Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 7th:
Game 1 - 1:00 pm: No. 4 Coe (H) vs. No. 5 Dubuque (V) - Daniels Park
Game 2 - 1:00 pm: No. 3 Luther (H) vs. No. 6 Simpson (V) - Veterans Memorial Stadium
Game 3 - 4:00 pm: No. 2 Buena Vista (H) vs. Game 2 winner (Luther/Simpson) - Vets
Game 4 - 7:00 pm: No. 1 Wartburg (H) vs. Game 1 winner (Coe/Dubuque) - Vets
 

Friday, May 13
Game 5 - 10:00 a.m.		Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Game 6 - 1:00 p.m.		Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Game 7* - 4:00 p.m.		Game 5 winner vs. Lower seeded loser of Games 3 and 4
Game 8 - 7:00 p.m.		Game 7 winner vs. Higher seeded loser fo Game 3 and 4
Saturday, May 14
Game 9 - 10:00 a.m.		Game 8 winner vs. Game 6 loser
Game 10 - 1:00 p.m.		Game 6 winner vs. Game 9 winner
Game 11 - 4:00 p.m.		Game 9 winner vs. Game 9 loser (only if needed)
* EXCEPTION: If one of the Game 3 or 4 losers has already had a bye, that team will play in Game 7, regardless of seed.

Cedar Rapids Gazette feature on Gilson