WAVERLY, Iowa – The Wartburg College baseball team (19-14 overall, 10-11 A-R-C) secured its 10th conference win of the season with a 12-5 game two victory over Loras College but fell 9-6 in the series finale on Senior Day Saturday.

Prior to the final game, the Knights honored 10 members of the 2026 senior class, who made their final appearances at Harms Stadium at Hertel Field.

With the series win, Wartburg captured its second league series of the season, combining for 34 runs on 38 hits across the three-game set. Tanner Jackson powered the offense with two grand slams, driving in 10 RBIs over the weekend. Charlie Krueger hit .583 with seven hits - including four for extra bases - and added nine RBIs. Andrew Robinson posted a .545 average with six hits, highlighted by a 5-for-5 performance in game two, and tied the single-season hit-by-pitch record after being hit for the 24th time this year.

On the mound, the Wartburg pitching staff held the conference's top offense to a .232 batting average, limiting Loras to 23 hits and 14 runs while striking out 31 over the series, as the Knights outscored the Duhawks 34-14.
 
GAME ONE – Wartburg 12, Loras 5
Owen Greco (3-3) made his fifth start (11th appearance) of the 2026 campaign to begin game one, cruising to a clean opening frame of work.

Andrew Robinson tallied Wartburg's first hit of the day, a single over the Loras shortstop's head in the bottom half. With two outs, Charlie Krueger roped a liner to right to bring home Andrew Gallegos, who was hit by a pitch, to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead after one.

The Duhawks answered the bell in the top half of the second to knot it up at one.

Robinson notched his second hit of the day in the third, this time a double into the gap to give the Knights their first base runner of the frame. Jayden Scott was plunked and Andrew Gallegos loaded the bases with a single to bring up Krueger, who singled home Robinson to make it 2-1. Next batter, Tanner Jackson did the unthinkable, blasting his second grand slam of the series and Wartburg's third of the series to claim a 6-1 lead through three.

Loras stormed back after knocking Greco out of the ball game in the top half of the sixth, as Cael Funk made his 12th appearance in relief. The Duhawks crawled back within one after a four-hit, four-run frame at 6-5.

Wartburg immediately responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half. Robinson collected his fourth hit with his third single. Scott followed with an RBI-double and Gallegos brought in Scott to make an 8-5 advantage.

Krueger's third hit of game one then advanced Gallegos to third to bring up Jackson who marked his fifth and sixth RBIs with a double down the left field line. Wartburg led 10-5 through six.

In the seventh, Robinson continued his perfect day with another single to left to plate Bender. A wild pitch later scored Drew Conrad to extend Wartburg's lead to 12-5.

As Ca. Funk (1) dealt the rest of the way, the Knights would claim the regular season series with a 12-5 win in game two.

Greco earned his third win of the season, going 5.1 innings and allowed eight hits and five runs (all earned) with a pair of strikeouts.

Robinson perfected a 5-for-5 day with four singles and a double – one hit shy of the single season record of six hits. Jackson clobbered his second grand slam of the series (third homer of the season) to mark a new career-high six RBIs in game one of the day.

Offensively, the Knights went down looking just twice while outhitting the Duhawks 15-to-9 – Wartburg struck out Loras a total of eight times. The Knights scored six of their runs in the first three innings.

GAME TWO – Loras 9, Wartburg 6
Wartburg struck first after Nicholas Nin sat the Duhawks down in order to open game three. Troha led off with a single, as Robinson reached on an error. After a catcher's interference call in Gallegos' at-bat, Krueger singled home Troha to claim a 1-0 lead after one.

Loras took its first lead of the entire series in the third, plating a pair of runs on three hits and an error. Once again, Wartburg had an answer, evening up the score a two after Krueger went yard to the opposite field with one out.

Nin totaled seven strikeouts through the first four innings of work (one shy of his career-high), however, the Duhawks regained a 3-2 advantage in the fifth. The inning lasted, as Nin ran into a bit of trouble allowing three more runs before Miles Mudd entered with two outs in the frame. Loras continued to bat around the lineup with two outs, finishing the top half of the fifth with six runs on six hits to take a seven-run lead at 9-2.

After a flyout from Scott to open the home half, Gallegos crushed an opposite field solo homerun (eighth of the season) to make it 9-3 through five.

The Knights cut their deficit down to three in the sixth, as Troha poked an RBI-single to plate Nagelmaker and Bender followed behind as the Loras right fielder muffed it to plate a pair. Gallegos cut it to 9-6 after an infield RBI-single.

Robinson wore his 24th pitch of the season to tie the single season program record in hit-by-pitches in the eighth.
Conner Funk made his 12th appearance of the season in the ninth, striking out a pair of Duhawks to keep them off the board. Loras was able to retrieve three-consecutive outs to solidify itself in the 2026 A-R-C Baseball Tournament in Cedar Rapids.

Wartburg and Loras each tallied 11 hits, as well as 10 runners left of the basepaths. For the third time this season, the Knights didn't draw a walk (all three have ended in losses).

Troha paced the Knights' 11-hit effort with two doubles and RBI on a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, as Gallegos (8) and Krueger (4) each smacked opposite-field homeruns to drive in two RBIs.
 
"Our offense just feels so much different than it did a few weeks ago", stated head coach Casey Klunder, as the Knights bolstered 34 runs on 38 hits over the weekend.

"Once again, I can't say enough about our pitching staff this weekend, that's the most potent offense in the league and we limited the damage they are capable of.", Klunder said.
 
UP NEXT
Wartburg will square up with the Spartans of Dubuque University in another pivotal weekend series set for Friday, May 1 and Sunday, May 3 in Dubuque, Iowa. The Knights will play a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m., Friday and wrap up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Wartburg currently sits fifth in the A-R-C standings as the top six teams earn the right to be in the conference tournament; Dubuque in seventh.

Wartburg will no longer be hosting Cornell College Tuesday.