CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Wartburg College baseball team opened the 2026 American Rivers Conference Baseball Tournament with a perfect Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium, rallying for an extra-inning walk-off win over Central before knocking off top-seeded Luther, 10-4, to advance to Friday's semifinal round.
The fourth-seeded Knights improved to 24-14 overall and will face No. 2-seeded Coe College Friday at Noon. Coe earned a 9-1 victory over Simpson in Thursday evening's final contest.
GAME ONE – (4) Wartburg 8, (5) Central 7 (10 innings)
Wartburg struck first with a two-run opening inning after the first three batters reached base.
Andrew Gallegos drove in the first run on a fielder's choice before
Charlie Krueger added another RBI groundout for an early 2-0 advantage.
Central answered with a run in the second, but Wartburg starter
Emerson Alberhasky settled in early, recording two strikeouts through his first two innings of work.
The Knights extended the lead to 3-1 in the third when
Jayden Scott tripled with two outs and later scored on Gallegos' RBI single.
The Dutch used a three-run fourth inning to briefly move in front, 4-3, before Wartburg immediately responded in the home half.
Keegan Schmitt doubled with two outs before
Griffin Troha tied the game with an RBI single. After
Andrew Robinson was hit by a pitch, Bender later scored on a wild pitch to give the Knights a 5-4 lead.
Tanner Jackson added insurance in the fifth with a solo home run to deep left field, his fifth homer of the season, extending the lead to 6-4.
Central pulled within one in the sixth and later reclaimed a 7-6 advantage in the eighth, but Wartburg answered again in the bottom half when
Bode Nagelmaker drew an eight-pitch bases-loaded walk to tie the game at seven.
Conner Funk tossed a scoreless ninth inning to force extras before the Knights completed the comeback in the 10th. Scott led off the inning with a single, Krueger followed with another base hit and Jackson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Nagelmaker then delivered the walk-off single up the middle to send Wartburg into the winner's bracket.
Scott paced the offense with five hits, including a triple, while Jackson finished 2-for-5 with a home run. Robinson was hit by a pitch for the 26th time this season.
Alberhasky worked 6.1 innings, allowing five earned runs while striking out seven. Funk earned the victory after tossing two shutout innings in relief.
The win marked career victory No. 98 for head coach
Casey Klunder.
GAME TWO – (4) Wartburg 10, (1) Luther 4
The Knights carried their momentum into the nightcap, using a five-run sixth inning to pull away from top-seeded Luther and secure a spot in the semifinals.
Wartburg opened the scoring in the fourth when Krueger singled home Robinson for a 1-0 lead, but the Norse answered with two runs in the bottom half to move ahead 2-1.
Nagelmaker continued his standout day in the fifth, blasting a solo home run over the right-field wall to even the score at two.
The Knights then broke the game open in the sixth with six hits and five runs. Scott doubled to begin the rally before Krueger brought him home with an RBI single. Consecutive hits from Jackson, Nagelmaker and Schmitt pushed the lead to 5-2, while
Liam Bender capped the inning with a two-run double following a Luther pitching change.
Wartburg added two more runs in the eighth behind Bender's third and fourth RBIs of the contest and another RBI single from Troha to extend the advantage to 10-2. Luther scored twice in the bottom of the inning, but the Knights closed out the six-run victory.
Bender, Schmitt, Nagelmaker, Krueger, Gallegos and Robinson each recorded two hits in the win as Wartburg totaled 15 hits offensively.
Owen Greco earned the win after tossing seven innings, allowing four runs while striking out four.
Cael Funk closed out the final two innings, surrendering just one hit and striking out three.
The Knights also handed Luther starter Josh Stratton his first loss of the season.
Klunder now sits one win shy of 100 career victories as Wartburg advances to Friday's semifinal matchup against Coe.
