Luther knocks off Buena Vista to advance in Iowa Conference baseball tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS — Plenty of noise emanated from the Luther dugout.

The Norse had a grand time and they had plenty to cheer about Thursday.

Third-seeded Luther went 2-0, knocking off No. 2 Buena Vista, 8-4, to remain in the winners' bracket of the Iowa Conference baseball tournament at Memorial Stadium.

The Norse (30-12) were energetic and offensive, tallying 20 total runs during the first of a three-day event.

'We were excited to be here,' said Luther senior Czenvic Rojer, who had two hits and two RBIs against Buena Vista. 'We were just having fun and trying to attack strikes. We tried to our best to move runners over and stuff like that. I think we did a really good job in both games.'

Luther Coach Bryan Nikkel said his team is playing as hard as it can and giving their all on the field.

'It's been our approach all week at practice,' Nikkel said. 'These are baseball games. These are teams we've played before. We can win when we play our hardest and our best, which is what we're trying to do.'

The win marked Luther's sixth straight victory, beating Simpson, 12-10, in a wild opener at the stadium. The last loss came in a four-game series sweep by the Beavers in Decorah on May 1-2.

'We never really talked about it,' Nikkel said. 'We just went out and played.

'They beat us four times. They are a really good team (but) we think we have a chance against everybody.'

Things started slowly for Luther. A two-run, two-out double by Devon Harms gave Buena Vista a 2-0 edge in the bottom of the second.

The Norse responded with three in the third, including Rojer's sacrifice fly that scored Alex Weber to give Luther the lead. The Norse scored in four straight innings, taking command of the game with timely hits and some with two outs.

'It's something we've been streaky at all year long,' Nikkel said. 'In tournament time, you've got to score runs when you have chances, especially when you're playing good teams which we will see in this tournament, and we capitalized on that.'

The Norse received production from the entire lineup. Jake Halverson's RBI single drove in Bryce Hingst the next inning.

Rojer and Mitch Knippenberg opened the fifth with consecutive doubles that drove in Rojer with the eventual winning run. Rojer added an RBI single in the sixth, following Weber's two-run hit that plated Max Uetz and Halverson. The Norse got four hits from the first five batters in the sixth.

'It's fun to see your fellow teammates go out there and battle and then have good at-bats,' Rojer said. 'They get base hits. You want to get base hits and move them over.

'Definitely, we feed off one another.'

The lead was in the safe hands of starter Blake Peterson. Luther's senior right-hander threw a complete game, striking out eight and improving to 7-1 this season. Norse pitchers have been reliable for quality starts when they are needed most.

'Blake Peterson pitched an unbelievable game for us,' Nikkel said. 'He's been that guy all year for us.'

Kendall Candor and Noah Paper had two hits apiece to lead Buena Vista (31-10).

Luther faces Wartburg at 1 p.m. Friday. The winner of that will advance to Saturday's championship game.

The Knights (32-9) scored two in the first and fourth innings and sealed it with Ryan Kemp's three-run home run over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the eighth, dropping Coe, 8-2. The Kohawks (18-21) started the tournament with a 9-5 victory over Dubuque.

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