TOPEKA, Kan. – The Luther baseball team lost a pair of games to Augustana College (IL) and Cornell College. The day started with a 18-4 loss in seven innings to the Vikings and a 10-inning tight 8-7 loss to the Rams. The Norse now drop to 2-3 on the season with two more games in Kansas on Sunday.
 
Game One: Luther (4) vs Augustana (18) 7 inn.
The weather couldn't have been more picture perfect for baseball but the opening game in Kansas wasn't so much for the Norse. Augustana got one on the board in just the first inning and with Ryan Manternach on the mound Luther was feeling pretty good. The Vikings held on to the 1-0 lead as both offensives went cold and the two defensives were locked in. But in the top of the fifth Augustana exploded adding nine runs to their total off seven hits along with another five in the top of the sixth.
 
 Luther got the offense going with a Cullen Stamp (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) single followed by an Aiden Michna (Moline, Ill. / Moline) double put Stamp in scoring position. Joshua Matanich (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) may have grounded out to first base but the first run for the Norse came across home plate. Charlie Rubendall (Minneapolis, Minn. / DeLaSalle) also had an RBI single that gave the Norse two runs with three hits.
 
The Viking bats couldn't be stopped with another three runs scoring in their final at bat. Luther had one last chance at the plate in the bottom of the seventh. With two runners on Stamp singled earning two RBIs for his efforts. But in the end Augusta picks up the 18-4 win.
 
Game Two: Luther (7) vs Cornell (8) 10 inn.
After a tough loss, the Norse were looking for a way to bounce back. Needless to say, it was a back-and-forth battle with the Rams all the way through. Stamp was the first Norse to get on base in the early goings of the first inning. Will Heithoff (Winterset, Iowa / Winterset) RBI double got Luther on the board first. Cornell answered back with a four-run bottom of the third to take the 4-1 lead.  
 
Stamp once again lifted the offense with his RBI double in the top of the fourth to cut the Rams lead in half. But Cornell once again found a way to add another run to their total building the lead back up to three. Going into the fifth the Norse got a single from Noah Sebben (Moline, Ill. / Moline) and he quickly stole second and advanced to third. Matanich drove an RBI single to bring Luther back within two runs. 
 
Luther finally found the spark to take back the lead for the first time since the first inning in the top of the seventh. With two runners on, Matanich single led to a tie ball game a 5. With Matanich on third Rubendall used a sac fly to bring the leading run across home plate. Luther now had the lead back in their possession with a 6-5 score.
 
However, the game was far from over with the Rams tying it all up at six apiece and then they took back the lead by one in the bottom of the eighth. With Cornell up by 7-6 in the top of the ninth Luther responded another double from Matanich brought in the tying run. The Rams couldn't walk it off so the game went to extras. 
 
Luther gave it their all but the Rams came away with a single that sealed the game at 8-7.
 
TOP NORSE
o   Cullen Stamp (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) had four hits, three RBIs, a run and one double in the two games.
o   Joshua Matanich (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) had five total RBIs in the two games. In game two he had three hits including four of his five RBIs, one double and one run.
 
UP NEXT
Luther will hit the diamond for another two games in Topeka, Kansas against UW-Platteville at 12:00 p.m. CT and Cornell College at 2:00 p.m. CT.
 
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