WAVERLY, Iowa – The Wartburg College Knights baseball squad (6-19 overall, 3-9 A-R-C) dropped their ninth-straight game in an 8-3 loss to the Luther College Norse (13-11, 7-3) on Tuesday evening.
Junior
Tyler Hovick (Roland) connected on his fourth home run of the season, while classmate
Tyler Nunemaker (Ely) connected on his second-career home run in the loss. Junior
Collin Guinn (Davenport) batted 1-2 at the plate, while sophomore
Parker Ridge (Marion) and freshman
Jarod Harris (Manchester) each went 1-3, with Harris picking up his eighth RBI of the season.
Luther struck first with a two-run first inning that was highlighted by two RBI sac flies to take the early 2-0 lead off of Wartburg's
Brady Kraus (Luzerne). The Knights responded with a two-run second inning of their own by way of Hovick's home run and a RBI single by Harris that scored Guinn.
The 2-2 standstill lasted a full inning before Luther regained their lead with a two-run fourth inning that saw one Norse score by way of an error and another record a RBI single to left to lead it 4-2. After giving up three runs in four innings of work, Wartburg switched from Kraus to freshman
Aaron Eybers (Sioux City) at the top of the fifth.
Making his 11
th appearance of the season, Eybers pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings, striking out two along the way before surrendering a RBI sac fly at the top of the seventh, extending the Luther lead to 5-2. Wartburg again switched pitchers one out into the eighth inning, opting for junior
Matt Milewski (Lake Villa).
Milewski pitched a scoreless eighth but gave up three runs against eight batters at the top of the ninth before striking out the ninth Luther batter of the inning to stop the late Norse run. With an 8-2 deficit at hand, Nunemaker launched a home run to right field to trim the Knight deficit to 8-3. Junior
Manny Jeffery (Marion) and Hovick flew out to right in back-to-back at bats for the final two outs of the contest.
The Knights will return to the home diamond on Friday, April 12 to take on the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves in the first of a three-game series beginning at 6 p.m.