Going into the final week of the conference season, the baseball team is clicking on all cylinders.

Thanks to an 8-7 victory over crosstown rival University of Dubuque in 11 innings on Wednesday night, the Duhawks have won 10 of their last 11 games and sit on top of the Iowa Conference. They already have clinched a berth in the Iowa Conference Tournament.

UD held a 7-1 lead on the Duhawks going into the bottom of the seventh inning, when Loras struck back with a four-run inning. The Duhawks also scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to send the game into extra innings.

Senior Alex Miklo drove in three runs for Loras, while first-year B.J. Juergens had three hits and scored two runs to lead the Loras attack. Junior Ben Kuebel and seniors Nick Olberding and Adam Gross each had two hits. And culminating a mind-boggling week, junior Kyler Laurie won his fourth game in just the span of a week while pitching in relief. Laurie now has an 8-1 record.

UD came into Wednesday’s game looking for revenge after Loras crushed the Spartans in a doubleheader a week ago. That’s when the Duhawks really starting ripping the cover off the ball. In last week’s doubleheader against UD, the offense combined for a total of 27 runs and 32 hits.

“It was a huge confidence booster for our team, and it came at a great time,” said Coach Carl Tebon. “It was a big breakout day for a lot of our hitters.”

In the first game against UD, a 12-3 victory, Olberding went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs while Kuebel had three hits and two runs-batted-in.

In the second game, a 15-2 mauling, sophomore Austin Brown had two hits, including a home run, and drove in five runs, while Olberding extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

The Duhawks’ hot hitting continued against Simpson, and it was a good thing it did. The Storm stormed to a lead in the first game of a doubleheader with eight runs in the second inning. But the Duhawks, thanks to a 19-hit attack, prevailed, 15-14, in an eight-inning thriller.

“Hitting is contagious; once you see guys getting these big hits, everyone wants to be a part of it,” Tebon said. “The Dubuque games carried over into the Simpson series and we continued to square up well.”

The seniors played a huge part in the first game against Simpson, as Olberding again had three hits and three RBIs, Alex Miklo had four hits and drove in two runs, and Adam Gross was 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Loras blew out the Storm, 16-3, with an 18-hit performance in the second game, and this time it was the “rookies” who were the stars. First-year B.J. Juergens was 4-for-4 in the game with five runs-batted-in, while first-year pitcher Austin Safranski increased his record to 7-0 while pitching six strong innings.

“The way he prepares for a game mentally is unbelievable for a freshman,” Tebon said of Safranski. “The way he is focused is the reason he is where he’s at right now.”

Loras went on to earn a three-game sweep from the Storm on Saturday. Olberding extended his hitting streak to 15 games, with two hits and two RBIs.

The Duhawks’ record now stands at 23-11, including 13-6 in the conference. The Duhawks will travel to Mount Vernon for a three-game set against Cornell this weekend. Cornell is sitting in the bottom half of the conference, but Tebon said he refuses to look at it that way. He hopes the Duhawks will win the series against Cornell and earn that first-round bye in the conference tournament.

“If we play the way we have been playing, we should be good,” Tebon added. “You can’t look at the matchup on paper; anyone in the conference can beat anyone. This will be the biggest challenge for me in my 14 years here.”