Duhawks march to title game, finish 2nd
May 12, 2008

The Loras College baseball team became the first IIAC squad to play the maximum seven games during the league tournament this weekend, forcing a deciding winner-take-all matchup on Saturday afternoon with #1 seed Wartburg College. The morning began with the third consecutive elimination game for Loras, this time against the Central College Dutch. A win there setup the second matchup with Wartburg of the weekend, with Loras needing to knockoff the Knights twice to win the tournament. The Duhawks did earn a win in the initial rematch, 4-2, before eventually falling in the title game 10-2 in the third game with Wartburg during the 2008 tournament.

vs. Central, Saturday AM, Win, 10-3

After scoring 16 runs in Friday night's game, the Duhawks bats rested briefly before waking up and tallying another double-digit scoring day in the morning matchup with the Dutch. Loras' first five spots in the order were 11-for-17 with five runs and eight RBI. At the bottom of the order, Alex Miklo and Ben Kuebel kept the batting order moving with a combined 5-for-9, four runs, and one RBI.

The offense only slightly outshined Kyler Laurie's start on the mound. Laurie threw 6.2 innings of three-hit baseball to keep the Dutch offense in check and none of the three hits came until the seventh inning. Kyler conceded zero hits and struck out three through six innings. All three of the Dutch runs crossed the plate in the seventh, and relievers Brad Joniec, Tim Carty, and Nick Miller combined for 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit to clinch the win.

The lead was trimmed to 5-3 in favor of Loras after six and one half innings, but the Duhawks quickly responded with the final five runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh to round out the scoring and lock up the championship game berth.

vs. Wartburg, Saturday 1 PM, Win, 4-2

Pitching and defense often make the difference in championship caliber games, and in the 24 hours leading up to the Saturday Wartburg game Loras had scored 7, 16, and 10 runs. Slowing down the Loras offense was far from inevitable, but the #1 Knights were boasting the IIAC's best team ERA and playing in their third game of the tournament.

What neither squad knew before the 1:00 PM start at Veterans Memorial Stadium was that right-hander Pat Thostenson had his best game as a Duhawk waiting in the bullpen as he warmed up to start Loras' sixth game in three days.

The junior from Oskaloosa, Iowa had appeared five other times in 2008 and was 0-1 in six innings of work. On Saturday, he took the ball and spread out 10 Wartburg hits in eight innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out two. As the pitcher of record to start the ninth, he waited patiently to learn the Duhawks fate in a 2-2 tie.

Loras claimed a 1-0 second inning lead when Tyler Shireman, called to duty after an injury to senior outfielder Brock Schneden, singled to left to score Alex Miklo. The Knights tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single from Zach Nagle as part of a three hit inning. Loras quickly responded with a run in the top of the sixth when Shireman again singled, this time plating Tim Andrews. The game was tied for the second time in the bottom of the eighth when Aaron Saeugling led off the inning with a double and was driven home two batters later.

As Thostenson and the Loras dugout waited anxiously to start the ninth inning, they needed to wait just one batter for Tyler Shireman to return to the batters box. His third hit of the day sparked the four hit inning that proved to be the difference. Ben Kuebel followed with his only hit of the game, and a wild pitch by Wartburg reliever Mike McGivern put both Shireman and Kuebel in scoring position for the top of the order. Adam Gross singled to right and drove in what held up as the winning run. Starter Kevin Moriarty was sent to the mound for Loras to close the game against the Knights 9-1-2-3-4 hitters. The inning began with a pop up and a strikeout before the Knights put the tying run on base. Moriarty hit Nagle with a pitch before Jerrold Martijn singled through the right side of the infield. Aaron Saeugling, who was 2-for-4 in the game, represented the winning run but struck out swinging to end the game and give Moriarty his first save of the season.

Loras added a total of 13 hits in game six of the tournament and did not commit and error.  A brief celebration and short break in the action at Veterans Memorial Stadium ensued before the deciding game began.

vs. Wartburg, Saturday 4:00 PM, Loss 10-2

Two lefties took the hill for the Duhawks and the Knights to start the winner-take-all game late Saturday afternoon. Matt Barilla started his team high 12th game of 2008 for Loras and second of the tournament. He was opposed by Jerrold Martijn of Wartburg.

Another low-scoring game was intact for the first six innings. The Knights struck first with two unearned runs against Barilla in the bottom of the first, but Barilla rebounded for shutout innings from then 2nd through 6th. Loras cut the Wartburg lead in half when Nick Olberding singled in Adam Gross in the top of the third.

The middle three innings of high stress baseball saw the teams combine for just one hit before Wartburg opened the game up in the bottom of the seventh. Barilla gave up five hits early in the inning before handing the ball to head coach Carl Tebon for the final time in his career. Brian Kearns came on to finish the inning. When it was over, the Knights had a 6-1 lead. Alex Miklo's double to start the eighth briefly sparked the Loras offense and led to one more run, but four more scores by the #1 team in the league in the bottom of the inning put the game out of reach at 10-2.

The loss put the Duhawks' record at 5-2 for the tournament, three games better in the win column than a year ago. It also brought an end to ten Loras College baseball careers. Seniors Matt Barilla, Brad Joniec, Ryan Dunn, Nate Roling, Tim Carty, Brock Schneden, Chad Christell, Nick Miller, Tim Andrews, and Don Pirkle each removed the purple and gold uniforms for the final time.

The Duhawks ended the year even at 23-23 overall. Head Coach Carl Tebon earned the seventh 20-win season of his Loras career.