DECORAH, Iowa – Luther College completed the three game sweep over Nebraska Wesleyan as the Norse defeated Prairie Wolves in a pair of Iowa Conference baseball games on Saturday.  Luther won game one, 9-3, then completed the sweep with a 12-7 in the final game.
 
NWU finishes the 2017 season with a 13-27 overall record and a 6-18 conference record in their first season competing in the IIAC.
 
Luther jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings in the first game of the day and the Prairie Wolves could not recover.  NWU did close the gap to 5-3 in the top of the 5^th, but the Norse responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning and put the Prairie Wolves away.
 
The first run of the game for NWU came in the third inning as Owen Gubbels reached on an infield single then scored on an error.  In the 5^th inning, Kyle Hunter had an RBI single and Aaron Ochsner scored on a misplayed ball in the outfield.
 
The Prairie Wolves had 10 hits in the game, but committed five errors on defense.  Jesse Maguire pitched all eight innings allowing five earned runs on 12 hits.  Justin Corfield and Kyle Hunter both went 2-4 to pace the NWU offense.
 
NWU scored three runs in the top of the 2^nd inning in game two to take an early 3-0 lead.  Justus Stocks hit a 2-run double and Hunter drove in a run with a fielder's choice.  Luther quickly tied the game with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.
 
A squeeze bunt by Corfield in the 3^rd inning brought home Tyler Winterstein to put the Prairie Wolves back ahead by one run.  Luther regained the lead in the home half of the third with two runs on three hits.
 
For the third straight inning, Nebraska Wesleyan scored a run as Aaron Ochsner doubled and scored on a sacrifice bunt from Hunter.  The game stayed tied at 5-5 until the Norse scored one run in the 5^th then broke the game open with four runs in the 6^th inning.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan made one last push with two runs in the 8^th inning but it wasn't enough.  David Morris scored on an error and Ochsner came across on a fielder's choice.
 
Both teams finished the game with 10 hits, but Luther came away with more key hits.  The Prairie Wolves had three extra base hits, but left seven runners on base. 
 
Micah Hoage went 3-5 to lead the team in hits.  Aaron Ochsner was 2-4 with two doubles in his final game in a Prairie Wolves uniform, while David Morris was 2-3 with two runs scored.  Austin Ragland took the loss on the mound going four innings allowing five earned runs on six hits.  NWU used five pitchers in the second game.
 
The future looks bright for the Prairie Wolves baseball program as they graduate just one senior from the 2017 squad.