WAVERLY, Iowa-- Wartburg's (18-10 overall, 9-3 IIAC) ninth-inning rally came up just short as it fell 7-6 to Nebraska Wesleyan (12-19, 5-10) Monday.



The Prairie Wolves took the 2-0 lead in the second and plated two more in the fifth. The Knights got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning as junior Eric Willis (Waverly) scored on classmate Clay Henning's (Plymouth, Wis.) double to left.

Nebraska Wesleyan had a two-run home run in the seventh and the Orange and Black answered with three runs which included a two-run double from junior Blake Mahoney (Des Moines) which made it 6-4.

Junior Zach Hovick's (Roland) RBI double sliced the margin to one in the eighth as it was 6-5.

The Prairie Wolves scored one in the top of the ninth on a double to left centerfield to take the 7-5 lead. Wartburg started the rally as senior Jacob Thumann (DeWitt) drew a two-out walk, advanced to third on junior Cody Hyler's (Des Moines) single and scored on senior Mike Brown's (Bettendorf) single to left to make it 7-6. The rally would end there as the next batter struck out.

Willis was 3-4 with two runs scored.

The Knights are off due to finals until Friday when they host Buena Vista in a weekend conference series.