CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Wartburg baseball opened postseason play on Thursday, May. 8 with an 8-2 win over Simpson College before falling to top overall seed Buena Vista 5-4 in 10 innings. The Knights are now 21-19 overall and will continue A-R-C Tournament play Friday, May 9.
 
Game Summary

• vs Simpson
  • First Inning
    • After a leadoff walk drawn by Will Armstrong, both Zach Walton and Carter Stubitz recorded singled in back-to-back at bats to drive in the first run of the game
    • With runners on the corners, Keegan Schmitt hit a sacrifice fly to left center field to bring home Walton and give Wartburg a 2-0 lead after inning one
  • Fourth Inning
    • Joey Ciero struck out four batters through four innings for the Knights to keep Simpson scoreless through four innings
  • Fifth Inning
    • Walton was hit by a pitch before a Stubitz single led to the bases being loaded for the Knights with two outs
    • Wartburg added two runs following a Simpson fielding error that made the score 4-0 through five innings
  • Seventh Inning
    • Simpson got on the scoreboard in the seventh inning after four singles and a passed ball turned into two runs for the Storm
    • Wartburg answered in the bottom half after both Stubitz and Schmitt singled and then Grifffin Troha hit a two-RBI single down the left field line
      • Wiley Sullivan singled to bring home Troha and put the Knights ahead 7-2 after seven innings played
  • Eighth Inning
    • Three straight singles from Walton, Stubitz and Schmitt led to another Wartburg run to push the lead to 8-2
  • Ninth Inning
    • Conner Funk got the final three outs on the mound and helped secure an 8-2 win over the Storm
• vs Buena Vista
  • Third Inning
    • Jayden Scott hit a one-out double that led to an RBI double from Armstrong to bring around the first run of the game and give Wartburg a 1-0 lead
    • Emerson Alberhasky closed out his third inning on the mound with no hits or runs surrendered to keep the score 1-0
  • Fourth Inning
    • BVU tied the game up 1-1 in the fourth inning following a leadoff double down the right field line and an RBI single
  • Fifth Inning
    • Armstrong and Walton both singled, but were left stranded in the top half of the fifth
    • The Beavers took a 2-1 lead in the fifth after a double put runners on second and third, which led to a sacrifice fly
  • Seventh Inning
    • Stubitz stepped to the plate and delivered an three-run bomb to right field to put Wartburg back in front 4-2 headed to the bottom of the seventh
    • BVU got one run back in the bottom half of the seventh to make the score 4-3
  • Eighth Inning
    • The Beavers brought one run home on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4-4 before Wartburg got out of a bases-loaded jam with only one run allowed
  • 10^th Inning
    • BVU strung together two singles and an error to bring across the game winning run in the bottom of the 10^th to win 5-4

 
Top Performers

• vs Simpson
  • Carter Stubitz
    • 4/5
    • Two runs scored
    • RBI
  • Griffin Troha
    • 3/5
    • Four RBI
    • Run scored
  • Keegan Schmitt
    • 2/3
    • Two RBI
    • Run scored
    • Hit by pitch
• vs BVU
  • Carter Stubitz
    • 2/5
    • Three RBI
    • Home run
  • Will Armstrong
    • 3/5
    • RBI
    • Run scored
    • Double
  • Jayden Scott
    • 3/5
    • Run scored
    • Double

 
Coach's Comments
"Hats off to Joey Ciero for getting us started in game one today," said head coach Casey Klunder following day one of the A-R-C Tournament. "We hope its not the last time we see him on the mound for us, but if it is, what a career it has been for Joey. He's been a special player in this program and my favorite part about him is he just keeps getting better."
 
"I thought we did a good job of having a balanced lineup in game one," said Klunder about Wartburg's 8-2 win over Simpson. "I thought our guys executed well at the plate in game one and did good at getting quality at bats."
 
"Wiley Sullivan is a guy who has stepped up in a big role for us late this season," said Klunder. "I'm really proud of how he has responded from a season ago and today was another example of his hard work paying off."
 
"Carter Stubitz has been on another level for us at the plate this season," said Klunder. "He has elite leadership skills, which is so valuable to this team of both veterans and first-year guys."
 
"We're going to need a great start and quality innings out of our pitching staff and quality at bats all the way throughout the game offensively if we're going to stay alive in this tournament tomorrow," said Klunder on facing elimination tomorrow.
 
Notes/Streaks

• Wartburg is now 12-5 against Simpson and 8-4 against BVU in the A-R-C Tournament
  • Back-to-back walk-off losses against BVU in the A-R-C Tournament
• First extra-inning game of the season for Wartburg
• Stubitz now has a team-high nine home runs and 38 RBI this season
• 16^th career win on the mound for Ciero
• Updated pitching appearances this season following today's games:
  • Ciero (12, 6-3), Hunter Sehr (21), Kyle Thompson (17), Zach Byrne (five), Alex Berends (14), Co. Funk (16), Alberhasky (11)
    • Sehr's 21 is fourth most in a single season at Wartburg
• Second four-hit game for Stubitz this season (team high)
• Updated season RBI totals following today:
  • Stubitz (38), Schmitt (33), Troha (23), Armstrong (11) and Sullivan (seven)
• Wartburg is now 6-9 this season when committing multiple errors
• Third three-hit game for Armstrong and first for Scott this season

 
Next Time Out
The Knights will continue the conference tournament tomorrow (Friday, May 9) at either 3 p.m. (if Coe defeats Luther in game four) or 6 p.m. (if Luther defeats Coe in game four) against a team to be determined.