CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (May 12, 2022) - The Nebraska Wesleyan baseball team opened the 2022 American Rivers Conference tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. NWU fell in game one, 13-2, to Wartburg College and rallied in the ninth inning of game two but fell, 5-3, to Luther College.

Game One Recap
After a pivotal fourth inning from Wartburg, the Prairie Wolves tried to fight back in the bottom of the seventh inning. Facing a 9-0 deficit, NWU found a two-out spark when Christian Harris came to bat. Following a leadoff double by John Haimowitz and a single from Riley Ward, Harris came to the plate as a pinch hitter. Harris ripped a double to left field, which scored both runners, and put Nebraska Wesleyan on the board. 

However, the Knights applied the run-rule with two runs in the top of the eighth inning and held the Prairie Wolves scoreless in the bottom half of the inning. Wartburg held NWU's high-powered offense to just six hits in the game. 

Game Two Recap
For the second straight game, Nebraska Wesleyan's offense was held in check. But in the ninth inning, NWU rallied back. After four scoreless innings, Luther plated enough runs for a 5-0 lead until the final inning.

The Prairie Wolves roared back in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single from Owen Machal followed by a walk from Evan Kling. Kaleb Knox then roped a doubled to right-center field to score Machal. After Derek Kolbush was hit by a pitch, John Haimowitz lined a single to score Kling then a wild pitch allowed Knox to score.

Facing a two-run shortfall with no outs and two runners on base, Luther's pitching halted the NWU rally. The Norse were able to record back-to-back strikeouts followed by a groundout to end the game and eliminate the Prairie Wolves. 

Nebraska Wesleyan made its first appearance in a conference tournament since 2013. Additionally, the postseason berth came after 20 wins this season, an improvement of eight wins from the previous season. The Prairie Wolves also improved their conference win total by three games from the year before.