DECORAH, Iowa – The Luther baseball team overwhelmed Nebraska Wesleyan with a 32-4 win. In a game that saw the Norse have 29 hits which is the most so far in a single game this season. Mark Prince and Cullen Stamp combined for three home runs to secure victory. Luther opens the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) season 3-0 for the first time since 2021 and improve to 10-8 overall. The win is the largest margin of victory in modern history according to available records.
 
SCORE MORE
Despite the Prairie Wolves grabbing a 1-0 lead in their first at bat the Norse turned on the heat exploding to retake a commanding lead. In the second inning, the Norse strung together six back-to-back hits with Will Heithoff (Winterset, Iowa / Winterset), Peyton Linmark (Bettendorf, Iowa / Pleasant Valley), Mark Prince (Encinitas, Calif. / La Costa Canyon), Cullen Stamp (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata), Noah Sebben (Moline, Ill. / Moline) and Charlie Rubendall (Minneapolis, Minn. / DeLaSalle). Lindmark brought in the tying run and a double from Stamp brought in three runners. Sebben also delivered off his single and advanced an extra base due to error to score Stamp. Aiden Michna (Moline, Ill. / Moline) and Joshua Matanich (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) both earned RBIs to bring in the final two runs of the inning. Luther now was in control with a 7-1 lead.
 
The Norse continued to add runs to their total with a five-run bottom of the fifth. With runners on first and second Mark Prince hit a deep ball out of the park and at first the players waited to see if it would be called fair as it sailed down the left field line. Everyone looked on the umpire signaled fair ball for a three-run home run for Prince. Michna and Gabe Atkins both earned RBI for their singles lifting Luther to an 11-run lead.
 
The following inning another three-run home run was hit by Stamp and another RBI single for Michna gave the Norse four more runs. Bringing the score to 16-1. Perhaps the biggest inning of the day came in the bottom of the fifth with 16 runs off of 12 hits. Many players even had a second opportunity at the plate in the inning that it almost felt like batting practice. Mark Prince hit his second home run of the game this time a two-run home run deep over the trees on the left field side. Andre Viveros (Whittier, Calif. / La Habra) recorded his first double earning two RBIs for his first hit this season. Noah Dutler (Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield) earned his first RBI of the season off of his sac fly that scored the runner. The Norse felt comfortable with a 32-1 advantage.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan finally added a run in the top of the sixth scoring for the first time since the first inning. Nick Dufoe (Adel, Iowa / Adel-DeSoto-Minburn) continued to do his work on the mound and give way to Kaleb Thiesse (Kasson, Minn. / Kasson-Mantorville) to close out the game. The Prairie Wolves put two more runs on the board but in no way was this going to be a comeback for them. Luther dominated at the plate to secure the 32-4 victory to sweep the three-game series with Nebraska Wesleyan to improve to 3-0 to start conference play.
 
TOP NORSE

• Mark Prince (Encinitas, Calif. / La Costa Canyon) in five appearances at the plate off of three hits had four runs. He earned five RBIs including two home runs with a three-run blast and a two-run home run.
• Cullen Stamp (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) with four runs off four hits, one stolen base and six RBIs.
• Nick Dufoe (Adel, Iowa / Adel-DeSoto-Minburn) earned his first win of the season and only gave up four hits, two runs, five walks and struck out five in six innings of work.

 
UP NEXT
The Norse host Wartburg for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 28^th in Decorah, Iowa. First pitch will be at 1:00 p.m. CT followed by an approximate time of 4:00 p.m. CT for game two.  
 
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