WAVERLY, Iowa – Baseball picked up its first win over a nationally ranked opponent Saturday, Apr. 19 with a game two win over No. 16/18 Coe College in today's doubleheader. Coe took game one 12-1 in seven innings and the Knights took game two 6-3.
 
Wartburg is now 16-14 overall and 10-9 in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play, while Coe is now 25-7 overall and 15-3 in A-R-C play.
 
Game Summary

• Game One
  • First Inning
    • The Knights were first to strike on the scoreboard after a leadoff double from Will Armstrong, who was eventually scored by an RBI groundout from Zach Walton to make it 1-0 early
  • Second Inning
    • Coe responded at the plate in the second inning with a leadoff single followed by back-to-back RBI doubles to make the score 2-1 with the Kohawks in front
  • Third Inning
    • Eliot Jurgensen took away an extra-base hit from Coe when he made a diving catch in the left center field gap as Coe went three up and three down
  • Fourth Inning
    • The Kohawks brought two more runs across in the fourth inning to push the lead to 4-1
  • Fifth Inning
    • Coe broke the game open in the top of the fifth with six hits resulting in five runs scored to give the Kohawks a 9-1 advantage headed to the bottom half
  • Sixth Inning
    • The lead grew to nine runs in the sixth inning after a wild pitch brought one Coe runner home
  • Seventh Inning
    • Coe scored two more runs in the seventh to make the score 12-1 headed to the bottom of the seventh
      • Wartburg was unable to bring any runs across in the bottom half to avoid the 10-run mercy rule
      • The Knights went down three up and three down at the plate in the final three innings
• Game Two
  • Second Inning
    • Coe got on the scoreboard first in game two after a leadoff double in the second inning, who was eventually scored with an RBI single to make the score 1-0
    • Wartburg responded in the bottom half with three runs scored from three hits, including a two RBI single from Jurgensen to take a 3-1 lead headed to the third inning
      • Andrew Robinson, Jayden Scott and Armstrong all recorded singles and scored a run during the second inning
  • Third Inning
    • A Robinson double to right center field sparked a two-out Wartburg rally that brought one more run across for Wartburg following a single to left field from Scott
  • Fourth Inning
    • The Knights began the fourth inning by loading the bases after singles from Jurgensen, Walton and Stubitz
      • Two runners scored in the inning following a double play and an RBI-single from Griffin Troha to make the score 6-1
  • Fifth Inning
    • Nicholas Nin continued his great start on the mound with two strikeouts in the fifth inning to keep the Kohawks scoreless since inning two
  • Sixth Inning
    • Coe was able to get one more run back in the sixth after totaling four singles in the inning to bring the score to 6-2
  • Ninth Inning
    • A combination of Kyle Thompson, Hunter Sehr and Alex Berends pitched in relief for the Knights and closed out a 6-3 victory over the Kohawks

 
 
Top Performers

• Game One
  • Eliot Jurgensen
    • 1/2
    • Stolen base
  • Zach Walton
    • 1/3
    • RBI
  • Will Armstrong
    • 1/3
    • Double
    • Run scored
• Game Two
  • Eliot Jurgensen
    • 4/5
    • Two RBI
    • Double
    • Stolen base
  • Nicholas Nin
    • Win
    • 6.0 IP
    • Two runs allowed
    • Three strikeouts
  • Andrew Robinson
    • 2/4
    • Two runs scored
    • Double

 
Coach's Comments
"I'm glad we got the opportunity to come out here and celebrate 10 amazing fifth-year seniors as well as raised money for cancer awareness," said Casey Klunder. "It was really awesome to be able to not only raise money for a great cause that effects so many lives, but also be able to celebrate our fifth-year seniors and their families."
 
"Truly a tale of two games today," said Klunder postgame. "We felt like we were only a couple play away from a win last night and then we came out in game one and didn't play Wartburg baseball, but I was super proud of how the guys responded in game two to pull out a victory against one of the top teams in the A-R-C and country."
 
"I hope our game three performance is able to give us some confidence and build momentum as the season begins to wind down," said Klunder following a hard-fought 6-3 win over Coe to close the series. "Our schedule works out where we play three of the top teams in the conference down the stretch, so it's important to stay locked in one game at a time as the regular season comes to a close."
 

Notes/Streaks

• First win against a nationally ranked opponent since the 2021 season
  • Defeated No. 1/3 Webster University 5-3 to begin the 2021 season
• First win against Coe since 2023
• Jurgensen moved his reached-base streak to 17 games and hitting streak to 12 games
  • Recorded first four-hit performance of the season in game two
• No home runs from either team in today's doubleheader
• Nin is now 3-1 in decisions this season
• Two hits in game one marked a season low for the Knights
• Updated season RBI totals for the Knights:
  • Walton (25), Troha (15), Armstrong (8), Scott (3)

Next Time Out
The Knights will be back in action next on Tuesday, Apr. 22 for an A-R-C doubleheader against No. 27/RV Buena Vista University beginning at 3:30 p.m.