DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Wartburg College Knights (12-25 overall, 9-15 A-R-C) split its Saturday doubleheader with the Loras College Duhawks (16-18-10-14) by winning game one 14-9 and falling in game two 7-6. The Knights were officially eliminated from the American Rivers Conference Tournament with the loss in game two.
 
Game one saw the Orange and Black get into an early 1-0 deficit after Loras scored on an error by junior Joey Baumann (Woodbury, Minn.). The Knights responded by taking the lead with a two-run second inning, highlighted by a home run by junior Tyler Nunemaker (Ely) and freshman Jarod Harris (Manchester) scoring junior Manny Jeffery (Marion) on an error by the Duhawk's second baseman.
 
Wartburg tacked on another four runs at the top of the third off of a RBI double from Nunemaker, two-RBI single by Jeffery and by a RBI single from Harris to extend their lead to 6-2. The Knights scored a seventh run at the top of the fourth after junior Tyler Hovick (Roland) connected on his third sac fly of the season. At the top of the fifth, Baumann connected on his first-career home run, a grand slam, to push the Knights lead to 11-1.
 
The Duhawks scored three runs at the bottom of the fifth and seventh innings to trim the deficit to 11-7. Wartburg scored a single run at the top of the eighth to extend their lead to five (12-7) after Ridge reached first base on an error by the second baseman, which scored sophomore JoJo McNair (Joliet, Ill.), who tripled at the previous at bat. The Orange and Black scored another two at the top of the ninth by way of a RBI single from Baumann and a sac fly from McNair to lead 14-7. Loras then scored two runs at the bottom of the ninth before freshman pitcher Aaron Eybers (Sioux City) retired the final batter to secure the Knights' victory.
 
With the Wartburg victory, the two teams played the second game with a trip to the A-R-C Tournament on the line. Game two saw the Knights take an early 2-0 lead by way of a RBI single from Nunemaker and Hovick advancing to home after Jeffery grounded out into a double play. Loras responded with one-run innings at the bottom of the first and the second to tie the game at 2-2.
 
At the top of the fifth, Wartburg scored four runs off of a two-RBI single from Ridge, a RBI single from Jeffery and a steal to home from Hovick to give the Orange and Black a 6-2 lead. The lead lasted no more than a half inning and the Duhawks scored four more at the bottom of the fifth to tie the game for a second time at six apiece.
 
The tie would last just over two innings before Loras scored a run at the bottom of the eighth off of a RBI single to center to regain the lead (7-6). The Knights would fail to score at the top of the ninth, ending the game with a 7-6 loss.  
                                                                                                                                                                        
The Knights will return to action on Monday to face the University of St. Thomas in a doubleheader at 2:30 p.m.