CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Knights advanced to the American Rivers Conference Tournament Championship after defeating Loras 8-5 before they fell to Coe 10-6 in the title game on Saturday, May. 14.
Zach Walton broke one single season school record and tied another in the Orange & Black's games today.
Game Summaries
Wartburg 8, Loras 5
The bases were loaded early for the Knights in the top of the first when
Caleb Andrews hit a sacrifice fly that brought home
Eliot Jurgensen to make it 1-0. Loras was held hitless in the bottom of the first and neither team scored in the second inning.
Zach Walton doubled down the right field line in the top of the third, but he was left stranded to keep the score at 1-0. The Duhawks started their half of the third with back-to-back singles that eventually led to an RBI single that knotted the game at 1-1. Neither team recorded a hit in the fourth inning, but the Knights got back on the board in the fifth inning.
After singles from
Carter Stubitz and
Max Goodhue, as well as a walk from Jurgensen, the bases were loaded. The first run came across after a balk advanced all runners and then Walton singled to bring in two more runs. The Knights held Loras hitless in the bottom of the fifth and took a 4-1 lead to the sixth inning.
A one out double sparked the Duhakws offense in the bottom of the sixth as they tied the game after two RBI singles and a fielder's choice RBI. The Orange & Black were unable to get the bats going in the top of the seventh inning and Loras added a run in the bottom half to take a 5-4 lead.
Wartburg responded with a one-out double in the top of the eighth from
Keaton Gray that put a man in scoring position. After
Will Armstrong walked,
Bryce Butler hit an RBI single to tie the game and then Stubitz brought another home with a sacrifice bunt to give the Knights a 6-5 lead. The Orange & Black kept the inning going with an RBI single from Jurgensen that scored Butler to push the lead to 7-5.
After holding Loras to no runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Wartburg added one run to the lead in the ninth after Goodhue walked and was brought home by an RBI single from Walton.
Dreyton LaVeine earned the win on the mound with just one inning pitched for the Knights to move his record to 4-3 this season.
Cael Boehmer earned his first save of the season after closing the final two innings with just one hit allowed.
Walton led all hitters against Loras with a 3/4 day at the plate with three RBI and one walk. All three of Walton's RBI came from two singles. Goodhue was the only other Wartburg batter with a multi-hit game, and he scored two runs on the base paths.
A-R-C Championship Game One: Wartburg 6, Coe 10
Wartburg got three runners on in the top of the first from hit by pitches and then Gray doubled to right field to clear the bases for an early 3-0 lead. The lead didn't last long as Coe responded with a seven-hit seven-run inning that gave the Kohawks a 7-3 lead after the first.
The Orange & Black stranded two runners in the top of the second and Loras added another run in the bottom half to make it 8-3. Gray recorded another RBI after a single brought
Ben DeKruyf home in the top of the third. Both team stranded runners in the fourth and were hitless in the fifth inning to keep the score at 8-4 after five innings.
Stubitz doubled in the sixth inning but was eventually left stranded. The Knights held Coe to one hit and no runs in the bottom of the sixth and the score remained 8-4 with three innings left to play. Coe added another run to the lead in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 9-4. The Orange & Black couldn't bring any runs across in the eighth, but a Walton home run in the ninth added two runs to cut the lead to 10-6. The Knights couldn't come all the way back and fell to Coe 10-6 to close the A-R-C Tournament.
Darren Kilpatrick came into the game on the mound in relief in the first inning and finished the game with 7.2 innings pitched and three strike outs.
Gray led all Wartburg hitters in the championship game with four RBI from a 2/4 performance at the plate. The sophomore infielder hit one of two doubles for the Knights in the contest.
Walton's ninth inning homer marked his 13
th of the season, which tied Matt Thede (2000) and Jacob Thumann (2017) for the most in a season at Wartburg. The sophomore also walked twice between today's two games to set a new single season record for walks drawn in a season with 39. The Farmington, Minn. native finished 2/3 at the plate with two RBI, a walk and a hit by pitch in the championship game.
Next Time Out
The NCAA Tournament will be released on Monday, May 16 at 11 a.m. central time. The Knights will await their fate for an at-large bid.
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