WAVERLY, Iowa-- Wartburg (26-11 overall, 17-4 IIAC) hosts Dubuque (22-13, 16-5) in a series this weekend with the Iowa Conference Championship title on the line.

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The Series
Wartburg owns the series lead, 72-26. The Knights won three out of the four games last season.

Dubuque
Thomas Kempf leads his team with a .372 average and Austin McWhite follows at .360. Chase Kueter leads the starting pitching staff with a 2.42 ERA and is 4-3 in 63.1 innings pitched.

Wartburg
Junior Eric Willis (Waverly) has a team-best .379 batting average. Six teammates join him above .300: junior Blake Mahoney (Des Moines) at .376, junior Cody Hyler (Des Moines) at .375, senior Jacob Thumann (DeWitt) at .367, junior David Fitzgerald (Dubuque) at .323, senior Austin Lechtenberg (DeWitt) at .303, and junior Clay Henning (Plymouth, Wis.) at .300.

Thumann leads the team with 38 RBIs, and Mahoney follows with 34.

Senior Max Langheinrich (Minnetonka, Minn.) leads the starting pitchers with a 3.18 ERA and is 4-1 in 62.1 innings pitched with 49 strikeouts.

Career Record Watch
Thumann is now the program's leader in career home runs. He broke the record of 28, which was set by Wartburg Athletics Hall of Fame member Matt Thede in 2001. Senior Taylor Gilson (Oelwein) is fifth in wins (23), seventh in strikeouts (202), and eighth in innings pitched (219.2). Senior Gavin Nadermann (Epworth) is second in saves (9).

National Stat Rankings
Wartburg ranks in the top 100 of 15 stat categories. The Knights are: seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31), eighth in walks allowed/nine innings (2.36), 12th in WHIP (1.22), 17th in fielding percentage (.969), 32nd in ERA (3.36), 35th in hits allowed/nine innings (8.58) and WL percentage (.722), 46th in strikeouts per nine innings (7.8), 49th in batting average (.318), 62nd in hits (392), 73rd in on base percentage (.399), 82nd in stolen bases (61), 90th in stolen bases/game (1.69), 94th in home runs (20), and 95th in home runs/game (0.56).

Individually, three players rank in six categories.

Gilson is 15th in victories (8), 20th in games started (12), and 33rd in strikeouts (72).

Thumann is 14th in home runs (10), 23rd in home runs/game (0.28) and Tanner Eckhart is 43rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.13).