Decorah, Iowa - The Viterbo University Baseball team was defeated by Luther College 9-6 on Tuesday as two crucial fielding errors led to five unearned runs for the Norse.

Luther broke a scoreless game in the bottom of the second as Thomas Weber reached on an error to lead off the inning. After retiring the second batter, V-Hawks starting pitcher Greg Koch (Fr. - Portage, Wis.) hit Joseph Thompson with a pitch putting runners on first and second. Luther's next two batters each hit RBI singles giving the Norse an early 2-0 advantage. Viterbo would record the second out as they caught Steve Beckman attempting to steal third before the Norse would drive in their third and final run of the inning on a Jeff Riddle RBI single.

Luther would score three more runs in the fourth inning highlighted by a two-run home run by Ben Schott giving the Norse a 6-0 lead. Viterbo would finally find the scoreboard in the fifth inning when a sacrifice fly by Shawn Loch (Sr. - Suamico, Wis.) scored Bryan Ramirez (Jr. - Soledad, Calif.) who had drawn a walk earlier in the inning.

Viterbo would cut the lead to just two in the following inning as the V-Hawks scored three runs making the score 6-4. Brett Rettenmeier's (Jr. - Cedar Rapids, Iowa) RBI double drove in the first run before he would eventually score on a sacrifice fly by Eli Tupuola (Sr. - San Diego, Calif.). The V-Hawks final run of the inning would be scored on yet another sacrifice fly, this time by Ramirez which scored Nick Lenzendorf (Sr. - Eastman, Wis.) who had earlier reached base on a fielder's choice.

The Norse would answer quickly with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning before both teams would score two runs in the seventh inning making the score 9-6 where it stay for the remainder of the game.

Luther's August Lindmark would earn the save as he allowed just one hit in his inning of work for the Norse.

Picking up the loss for the V-Hawks was Koch who allowed seven runs, although just two were earned, on eight hits in five innings. The win was credited to Luther's starting pitcher Darin Schneider who allowed no runs on just two hits in two innings of work.

Leading Viterbo offensively was Rettenmeier who finished 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI, and Lenzendorf who went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The V-Hawks are next in action on Wednesday as they travel to Peosta, Iowa for a double-header against Clarke College.