DUBUQUE, Iowa – Knights baseball fell in both games of today's American Rivers Conference doubleheader against Loras to move to 21-16 overall and 11-9 in conference play.
Ben DeKruyf highlighted the day with four homeruns, including three in the game two loss.
Game Summaries
Game 1: Wartburg 6, Loras 8
The Knights jumped on the Duahawks early in game one with a four-run top of the first.
Max Goodhue got the scoring started with a two-run homer and
Eliot Jurgensen kept the offense hot with a triple that scored two more runs. Loras answered in the bottom half of the first inning with three runs of its own after a homerun and two RBI singles.
After a quiet second inning, DeKruyf delivered a two-run homerun that would extend the lead to 6-3.
Dylan Gotto settled in on the mound for the Knights after the first inning and went five innings in his start today. The Duhawks got one run back in the fifth to make the score 6-4 heading to the sixth inning.
Gotto was pulled to start the sixth and Loras took advantage with a four-run inning to take the lead. Loras' runs came from a two-run homer, a wild pitch, and a bases-loaded walk.
Wartburg was held hitless in their last three half innings and fell to Loras 6-8 to close game one.
Jurgensen, DeKruyf and Goodhue led the Knights at the plate in game one with two RBI for each of them. Goodhue's homer marked his second of the season and DeKruyf's was his fifth of the year.
Gotto led the Knights with five strikeouts through his five innings pitched. All four of the senior's runs given up were earned to push his ERA to 2.65 this season.
Will Armstrong pitched the final 2.1 innings and finished the contest with 2 strikeouts and no hits allowed.
Game 2: Wartburg 11, Loras 12
It was Loras who got off to the hot offensive start in game two as they scored three runs in the first after an RBI triple and single. The Duhawks stayed hot on offense and scored five more runs over the next two innings to make the score 8-0 after three innings.
DeKruyf put the Knights on the board in the top of the fourth when he hit another homerun today, this time a three-run shot. The Duhawks answered in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot homerun and an RBI double to bring the lead back up to seven.
In the fifth, Goodhue brought home a run with an RBI single before DeKruyf came up and hit another three-run shot to make the score 10-7. The Orange & Black got another run back in the sixth when
Bryce Butler scored on a wild pitch.
Loras homered again in the bottom of the sixth to extend its lead to 11-8, but in the top of the seventh DeKruyf delivered a third homerun of the game and fourth of the doubleheader to make the score 11-9. Butler followed that with a two-RBI single down the line to tie the game at 11.
Neither team scored in the eighth and then in the bottom of the ninth the uhawks strung some hits together to walk it off with a 12-11 win.
DeKruyf tied a school record today with his three homers in game two. The feat has only been accomplished twice before today, with the latest coming back in the 2015 season. The senior finished 4/5 at the dish and recorded seven RBI in the loss. DeKruyf now has eight homeruns and 36 RBI this season for the Orange & Black.
Goodhue finished three for four at the plate and added one RBI. His fifth-inning triple marks the sixth of the season and the senior now has 30 RBI.
Next Time Out
The Knights will close the regular season series against Loras tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
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