DECORAH, Iowa – Wartburg baseball hit the road for an American Rivers Conference doubleheader on Tuesday, Mar. 28 against Luther College where the Knights fell in game one 9-2 and then came up just short 14-13 in game two. Wartburg is now 6-8 overall and moves to 1-4 in A-R-C play. 
 
Game Summary

• Game One
  • After a fielder's choice got Caleb Andrews on in the top the first inning, Zach Wesolowski singled but Andrews was thrown out at home to end the inning
    • Luther stranded two runners in the top of the first and scored no runs
  • Sam Nicolino was hit by a pitch to start the second and then was brought home after an Eliot Jurgensen single advanced him to third and a Carter Stubitz sacrifice fly to make the score 1-0 in the top of the second
    • Joey Ciero struck two batters out in a three up-three down bottom of the second
  • In the bottom of the third, Luther tied the game at one with a two-out single
  • Jurgensen singled for second time in the top of the fourth, but was left stranded to keep the score at 1-1
  • After no runs in the fourth, Luther added a run in the fifth after a two-out double to make the score 2-1 after five innings
  • In the sixth inning, Luther broke the game open scoring three runs before a three-run homer made the score 8-1 after six innings
  • Wartburg was able to bring one more run across in the ninth inning after Zach Walton hit a sacrifice RBI that scored Keaton Gray
  • Luther held on to win 9-2
• Game Two
  • With two runners on in the top of the first, Sam Nicolino hit a sacrifice fly that scored Andrews for the first run of the game
  • After two outs in the bottom half of the first Luther exploded for five straight hits that turned into five runs for an early 5-1 lead
  • The Knights answered with three runs in the second inning after RBI from Cole Wessling, Anrews and Walton to make the score 5-4
  • Luther added two more runs in the second to extend the lead to 7-4 after two innings
  • Will Armstrong singled to score a run in the top of the third to cut the lead to 7-5
  • Luther added another run after a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 4^th and then added three more runs with a homer in the bottom of the 5^th to make the score 11-5
  • Andrews' groundout in the sixth got one run back and then a Stubitz double in the seventh scored another to make the score 11-7 after seven innings
  • In the top of the 8^th, Wesolowski singled to bring in one run and then Nicolino hit a three run shot to left field that tied the game at 11
  • In the bottom of the 8^th, Luther brought one run across after a sacrifice fly and then a throwing error scored two more runs to put Luther ahead 14-11 heading to the final frame
  • The Knights scored two runs in top of the ninth after a single from Armstrong and a groundout from Gray but were unable to bring the tying run across for a 14-13 Luther win

 
Top Performers
Game One

• Jurgensen
  • 3/4 at the plate
• Andrews
  • 2/5 at the plate
    • Two stolen bases
• Gray
  • 3/5 at the plate
    • One stolen base

Game Two

• Nicolino
  • 2/4 at the plate
    • Homerun
    • Four RBI
    • Two runs scored
• Armstrong
  • 3/5 at the plate
    • Two RBI
• Andrews
  • 2/6 at the plate
    • Two RBI
    • Three runs scored
    • One stolen base

 
Notes/Streaks

• Aaron Eybers set the new career record for appearances by a pitcher at Wartburg
  • Now at 67
• Joey Ciero struck out six batters in his game one start
• Nicolino, Wesolowski and Walton were walked twice in game one
• 13 runs is most scored since Mar. 3
• Nicolino recorded his first career homerun at Wartburg

 
Next Time Out
The Knights continue conference play this weekend with a three game series against Coe College this weekend with game one set for Friday, Mar. 31 at 6 p.m.