CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa-- The Wartburg baseball team (25-11 overall) opened the Iowa Conference tournament with a 5-0 win over Coe (23-17) Thursday. The Knights have now won six-straight over the Kohawks in the all-time series. This also marked the first shutout over Coe in the history of the IIAC Tournament and first shutout in the IIAC Tournament for Wartburg since 2005 (Wartburg defeated Simpson 9-0).



The Orange and Black tallied four of their runs in the first. Senior Cody Hyler (Des Moines) hit a double to left field to drive in classmates Eric Willis (Waverly) and Blake Mahoney (Des Moines). Sophomore Emmanuel Jeffery (Marion) drove in Hyler with his single to third base. Jeffery later scored on freshman Parker Ridge's (Marion) single to left.

This remained the score until the seventh when Jeffery plated senior Zach Hovick (Roland) on his double to deep right field. Hovick reached on a single, which extended his hitting streak to 13 games. This is longest streak of any player on the team this season.

Seniors Tanner Eckhart (Monticello, Minn.) and Austin Bohling (Letts) combined for the shutout. Echart pitched seven complete and fanned one. Bohling went two complete and struck out two.

Eckhart now holds the eighth spot on the career list in strikeouts (184).

Jeffery went had a career-high three hits as he went 3-4 with two RBIs.

Wartburg returns to the field Friday when it faces Dubuque at noon. The game time was moved up due to forecasted weather in the area.

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Cedar Rapids Gazette story

Double-Elimination Format Schedule
Thursday, May 10
Game 1 11 a.m. #5 Luther 7, #4 Loras 0
Game 2 11 a.m. #3 Coe 4, #6 Buena Vista 3
Game 3 2 p.m. #2 Wartburg 5, #3 Coe 0
Game 4 5 p.m. #1 Dubuque 11, #5 Luther 1 (8 innings)
Game 5 8 p.m. #6 Buena Vista 8, #4 Loras 5 (11 innings); Loras eliminated

Friday, May 11
Game 6 12 p.m. #1 Dubuque vs. #2 Wartburg
Game 7 3 p.m. #6 Buena Vista vs. #5 Luther
Game 8 6 p.m. Game 7 Winner vs. #3 Coe
(Exception: If one of the Game 3 or 4 Losers already has had a bye, that team will play in Game 7,
regardless of seed.)

Saturday, May 12
Game 9 10 a.m. Game 8 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser
Game 10 1 p.m. Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner
Game 11 4 p.m. Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner (if necessary)
[Sunday is a permissible rain date.]