DUBUQUE, Iowa — Nebraska Wesleyan baseball pounded out 15 hits and 12 runs in the opener, then watched Loras' Carson Hammer carve up the lineup for 6.2 innings in the nightcap as the Prairie Wolves split an American Rivers Conference doubleheader with the Duhawks on Friday at Petrakis Park. The split moves NWU to 8-19 overall and 3-8 in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE: NWU 12, Loras 10
The third inning happened fast. One moment the game was tied 1-1. Seven batters and four walks later, the Prairie Wolves led 8-1 and the ballgame was theirs to lose.
Senior first baseman Brady Bell was the engine all afternoon, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored, his second three-hit game of the season. He put the first runs on the board himself, singling in the second and coming around to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. When the third inning arrived, Bell reached on a fielder's choice to plate Jake Shedarowich and give NWU the lead for good at 2-1.
What followed was a seven-run avalanche. Reliever Luke Holtz walked Gavin Crogg, Brayden Harvey, Jaxon Volkmer and Jake Shedarowich all in succession to force in four more runs. Another reliever Andrew Krause had barely settled in before Duncan Ortega lined a two-run double to left field to make it 8-1.
Nebraska Wesleyan kept adding on. Crogg, who drew three walks to go with his two hits, singled to shortstop in the sixth to score Bell for run No. 9. In the sixth, Owen Duckworth reached on a Krause error and came around to score, Easton Johnson crossed on a Bell sacrifice fly to push the lead to 11-3, and Crogg singled to shortstop again to bring home the 12th run.
Ortega matched Bell hit for hit, going 3-for-5 with two singles and the pivotal double for two RBIs. Cohle Sherman also finished 3-for-5. Crogg was relentless, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three walks.
On the mound, freshman right-hander Garrett Walsh worked six innings, allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out three on 96 pitches to earn his third win of the season. Tyler Spreitzer came on in relief and worked 2.2 solid frames to close it out despite Loras' six-run seventh.
GAME TWO: Loras 6, NWU 2
Game two was the Vince Polizzi show. Loras' first baseman homered twice and drove in four runs as the Duhawks jumped on freshman right-hander Jack Starr early and never relented. Polizzi went deep in the third and fifth innings, each time with Zeal aboard, and the Duhawks finished with six runs on seven hits.
Starr worked four innings, surrendering four runs on four hits, including both home runs, with three strikeouts before exiting. Junior left-hander Charlie Mosser relieved and allowed two more in 1.2 innings. Freshman right-hander Louis Hoffart was a bright spot out of the bullpen, retiring hitters over 2.1 scoreless frames with four punchouts.
Loras starter Carson Hammer was masterful. He went 6.2 innings and limited the Prairie Wolves to just four hits with 10 strikeouts on 93 pitches.
Nebraska Wesleyan did not cross the plate until the seventh, when Ortega singled to center to score Zjhonoah Trujillo and make it 6-1. In the eighth, a bases-loaded walk brought home Easton Johnson to trim it to 6-2, but Loras' bullpen slammed the door from there.
Johnson paced NWU with a 3-for-4 day that included a double. Sherman reached base all night, going 1-for-3 with three walks. Brayden Schofield went 2-for-2 stepping in at first base for Bell in the latter innings.
UP NEXT
Nebraska Wesleyan concludes the series with a single game in Dubuque on Saturday at 11 a.m.
