Luther advanced to the championship game of the American Rivers Conference Tournament, defeating Loras College 5-2 this afternoon in Waverly, Both teams entered this game with one loss in Pod 2.

After falling behind 2-0 after two, Luther scored five unanswered runs, including putting four on the scoreboard in the third. The Norse added an insurance run in the fifth en route to the victory.

John Colucci III (5-3) went the distance on the mound. He gave up two runs on six hits, walked one and struck out three.

Joshua Matanich drove in two runs with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate. Kyle Schnobrich, Joe McKibben and Noah Sebben were all credited with one rbi. Kelby Johnson continued to swing a hot bat going 3-for-4 and scored twice.

The win gives Luther an overall record of 30-14. Loras ends its season with a record of 25-18.

Tomorrow (Sunday) No. 2 Luther and No. 1 Coe will meet for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex on the campus of Mt. Mercy University. Both teams have one loss in pod play so the winner of the single-game championship will earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA III National Championships.

Luther last won the conference tournament in 2016, while Coe's last tournament trophy came a year earlier. The winner of tomorrow's game will find out its NCAA tournament assignment later on Sunday, May 23. Regional play occurs next weekend. The A-R-C hosts the Division III College World Series for the second time on June 4-9.