WAVERLY, Iowa – The Wartburg College baseball team (17-11 overall, 8-8 A-R-C) secured its first American Rivers Conference series sweep since 2022 with a dominant Sunday showing at Harms Stadium at Hertel Field, defeating Buena Vista University (9-25 overall, 5-15 A-R-C) 5-0 in game one before closing the weekend with a 13-3, eight-inning run-rule victory in the finale.

GAME ONE – WARTBURG 5, BVU 0
Sophomore Owen Greco (2-3) delivered a standout performance on the mound, tossing a season-high 7.0 shutout innings while allowing just five hits and striking out five. The southpaw set the tone early with a pair of strikeouts in the opening frame and did not allow a run, guiding Wartburg to its first shutout since the 2024 season.

The Knights capitalized on early opportunities in the first inning, as Griffin Troha reached on an error and Andrew Robinson drew a walk. Tanner Jackson followed with a bases-loaded walk to plate Troha for a 1-0 lead.

Wartburg added to its advantage in the second inning. Keegan Schmitt led off with a single, and Robinson later delivered an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Knights broke the game open in the fourth with a three-run frame. Andrew Gallegos lifted a sacrifice fly to score Troha, while Bode Nagelmaker and Jackson followed with back-to-back RBI singles to push the margin to 5-0.

Greco worked around traffic in the seventh inning, issuing his only walk of the game before stranding two runners to preserve the shutout. Cael Funk came on in relief to begin the eighth inning.

Jackson led Wartburg with two RBIs, while Robinson recorded a team-best two hits. The Knights outhit the Beavers 7-5 in the contest.
 
GAME TWO – WARTBURG 13, BVU 3 (8 INN.)
Wartburg completed the series sweep with a decisive 13-3 victory in eight innings, marking its first conference series sweep since April 1, 2022 (Central).

Nicholas Nin (4-1) turned in a complete-game effort, allowing seven hits and just one earned run over 8.0 innings while striking out a season-high seven.

After Buena Vista took its first lead of the series with two runs in the second inning, Wartburg quickly responded. Tanner Jackson doubled home Nagelmaker to spark a three-run inning, while Schmitt and Bender each added RBIs to give the Knights a 3-2 lead.

The Knights extended their lead in the fourth on Troha's RBI, and after the Beavers cut the deficit to one in the fifth, Wartburg seized control with a five-run inning. Jackson added an RBI single, Schmitt highlighted the frame with a two-RBI double, and Robinson contributed a sacrifice fly to make it 9-3.

Schmitt added another RBI in the sixth, and Wartburg enforced the run rule in the eighth. Bender drove in a run with a single before Troha delivered a walk-off two-RBI double to left to cap the 13-3 victory.

Troha and Schmitt each drove in four runs in the finale, with Troha matching a career high and Schmitt posting a season best.

Head coach Casey Klunder credited the team's growth and resilience following the sweep.

"You know, flash back to where we were two weeks ago here on this field and how much better of a baseball team we are right now – it just shows the toughness and resilience of our guys," Klunder said. "Sweeps are very hard to come by in this league, and for us to take care of business like that, I couldn't be more proud of our team."

Through 26.0 innings pitched over the weekend, the Knights' bullpen limited the Beavers to just 13 hits, four runs, and recorded 27 total punchouts - Each of Wartburg's three starting pitchers worked 7-plus innings.

On the offensive side, Troha sent Wartburg's lone long-ball over the fence, however, the Knights tallied 26 hits, 23 RBIs, 20 walks and were a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen bases.
 
MOST HIT BY PITCHES IN A SINGLE SEASON
1. 24 - Birmingham, Vernon - 2000
2. 20 – Robinson, Andrew - 2026
3. 18 - Toops - 2003
4. 14 – Nicolino, Sam - 2024
5. 13 - Grau – 2009
     13 - Burger, Jude - 2000
     13 - Grau – 2011
     13 – Walton, Zach – 2022 & 2025
9. 12 – Toops – 2004
     12. – Gray, Keaton – 2022
     12 – Stubitz, Carter - 2024
 
UP NEXT
Wartburg takes its four-game winning streak to Decorah, Iowa to take on the Luther College Norse (24-9 overall, 14-5 A-R-C) for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., on Tuesday, April 21. The Norse took two-of-three games from Coe College over the weekend and sit atop the conference standings to date.