Union opened its 2011 baseball season with a 4-1 loss to Gladbrook-Reinbeck. Blake Clark took the tough loss allowing two earned runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out nine while going the distance. Offensively, the Knights managed just four hits.

The following night, Union hosted Oelwein in a doubleheader. Game one was another pitcher’s battle with Union coming up on the short end of a 4-2 score. Garrett Prestemon gave up just one earned run on six hits, four walks, and four strike outs. Will Crees, Blake Clark, and Nic Peters each had two hits while Justin Murphy and Nic Peters each drove in a run.

The nitecap saw Oelwein winning a 14-9 slug fest. Starting pitcher Nic Peters left the game in the first inning with a back injury. Cory Feldpouch came in to shut down the rally. An eight run 3rd inning spelled doom for Union as Oelwein jumped to a 14-3 lead. Union wouldn’t quit though as they pecked away for runs in the fourth through seventh. Justin Carey and Cory Feldpouch each had three hits. Bo Bader threw three innings of scoreless relief for Union.

The Knights opened conference play at NUHS on May 31, and stayed right with the defending conference champs for four innings. Union scored first when Garrett Prestemon drove in Cory Feldpouch with a sac fly. In the second, Hunter Zempel walked and scored on Trevor Rottinghaus’ base hit. Cory Feldpouch added a home run to his first inning triple to tie the score at 3-3. Hard hitting NU had four in the 4th, three in the 5th, and four more in the 6th. In addition to Feldpouch’s hits, Blake Clark was 3 for 4 and Jake Reiter had two RBI’s. Blake Clark took the loss for Union. The Knights are 0-4.