TOPEKA, Kan. – The Luther baseball team found themselves back in the win column to close out the trip to Kansas. The Norse picked up a 4-1 victory over UW-Platteville to start the day and followed up with a wild 16-12 win over the Rams to split the series. Overall, Luther sits at 4-3 on the season. 
 
Game One: Luther (4) vs UW-Platteville (1)
The Norse came on to the mound mentally focused and ready to move on from the other day. The action started in the bottom of the second with a runner on Will Heitoff (Winterset, Iowa / Winterset) singled to bring in the first run for Luther. Later in the inning, Charlie Rubbendall (Minneapolis, Minn. / DeLaSalle) hit his first solo home run of the season for the 2-0 lead. 
 
On the mound, Harry Blum (Fridley, Minn. / Fridley) and the defense continued to shut anything that the Pioneers threw at them. In the bottom of the fourth with two outs and runners in scoring position Peyton Linmark (Bettendorf, Iowa / Pleasant Valley) hit an RBI double to build the lead to three. The Pioneers added a run of their own in the top of the fifth but that was all Luther was going to give up. 
 
The final run of the game for the Norse came off a single from Gabe Atkins (Castle Pines, Colo. / Castle Rock) for an RBI. Blum was relieved after pitching seven innings after allowing six hits, one run and eight strikeouts. While Kaleb Thiesse (Kasson, Minn. / Kasson-Mantorville) came in to close out the game and earned his first save of the year. Blum was credited with the win improving to 2-0 on the season. 
 
Game Two: Luther (16) vs Cornell (12) 10 inn.
The Norse earned a split of the series with the Rams in a game that saw a combined 32 hits, and 28 runs. It was a slugfest from the very beginning with the two teams trading hits and runs. Luther found their hot streak of bats scoring in every inning but seven, eight and nine. 
 
One of the highlights of the game was a two-run home run from Rubbendall in the top of the first for his second home run of the season. Which contributed to a four run lead to open the game. Cornell cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the inning. In the second and third innings the Norse continued to build onto their lead adding a run in each inning. The Rams grabbed another one but Luther was still leading 6-3 after three. 
 
In the top of the fourth doubles from Cullen Stamp (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) and Noah Sebben (Moline, Ill. / Moline) gave Luther two more runs and each earned RBIs. With a 12-4 lead going into the seventh Luther felt that they had this game all wrapped up. But the Rams rallied adding eight runs to tie the game. Both teams tried to find a way to win it but to no avail. And for the second time in this trip Luther found themselves once again going to extra innings. 
 
The Norse massed on four runs in the top of the tenth including a two-run home run from Atkins. Anthony Esposito (Wayzata, Minn. / Wayzata) got the win on the mound. Luther picked up the 16-12 win. 
 
TOP NORSE
o   Charlie Rubbendall (Minneapolis, Minn. / DeLaSalle) with back-to-back games with home runs for the first time this season. 
o   Harry Blum (Fridley, Minn. / Fridley) and Kaleb Thiesse (Kasson, Minn. / Kasson-Mantorville) combined for the win and save in the UW-Platteville game. The two combined only gave up six hits, one run and struck out nine batters in route to the win.
 
UP NEXT
The Norse continue their road stretch of the season with a trip to St. Louis, Missouri for a doubleheader with WashU on Saturday, March 11th. The first game will be at 11:00 a.m. CT followed by the second game at approximately 2:00 p.m. CT. 
 
For all the latest on Luther Baseball, stay tuned to luthernorse.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.