WEST BURLINGTON, IA – When a team is twenty-one games into a season and hasn't had a losing streak, one can bank on the fact that it's been a solid campaign. Unfortunately for Indian Hills Baseball, they now have earned themselves their first such string of defeats after shouldering a pair of losses to Southeastern Tuesday at Wagner Athletic Complex, 11-9 and 7-3.
Pair last Saturday's loss to NIACC with the two losses to the Blackhawks, and suddenly the Warriors are saddled with a three-game skid and sit at 19-4 overall and 14-4 in the ICCAC.
IHCC Head Coach Matthew Torrez realizes that despite his club's brilliant start, the nature of the game doesn't not lend itself well to the odds of staying perfect.
"Today was one of those days that went from feeling pretty good about things, and then there would be an inning that we just couldn't stop," Torrez said. "It makes you think, 'hey, wait, what just happened?' That's baseball sometimes. We've won a couple games in that fashion this year, and today was just not our day."
Early on in game one against SCC, it looked like the Warriors were well on their way to their 20th victory as Torrez' troops had staked a 9-0 advantage after just three frames.
"We had success early at the plate and we were just not able to keep the pressure on them and continue to score runs. We scored nine runs in two innings and never scored again to answer their offense."
With a nine-run lead and Nick Marshall (3-0) on the hill, one would think that the 19-2 Warriors would make that stand up, but the Blackhawks had other ideas. SCC plated three in the fifth to cut the deficit to six, and in the bottom of the sixth, the wheels fell off the Warrior wagon.
The hosts scored eight runs in the sixth with the benefit of just three singles. Control issues plagued IHCC pitching as the Warriors allowed five walks and plunked two SCC batters to lead to their demise.
"It was the first time all year that our pitchers had a difficult time finding the strike zone," Torrez admitted. "We normally do a really good job of competing in the zone, and tonight we just could not find the it."
Gavin Hinckley took the loss in relief to fall to 1-1 this season.
IHCC got a pair of hits from Shane Morrow and Billy Rivera in their nine-hit attack. Rivera and Ricardo Van Grieken each doubled.
While coaches often warn their players of not letting the after-effects of a loss turn into a another, sometimes it's easier said than done, and Torrez admitted that it might have been too much to overcome on Tuesday.
"Our guys tried to put game one behind them," Torrez said. "We came out and put up a run in the first, but we just could not shake what happened in the opener."
Ren Tachioka got the Warriors on the board in the night cap after singling, moving to second on a groundout, third on a balk and then scored on a passed ball.
The Blackhawks made sure the Warrior lead was short-lived as they pushed across three in the bottom half of the first, and IHCC would never regain the advantage over the nine-inning affair.
A Morrow double scored Tucker Ebest in the fourth frame, and a SCC error allowed Rivera to cross in the sixth, and that's all the Warriors could muster in game two. IHCC would only manage a total of five hits led by Tachioka with a pair of singles. Ebest and Morrow each doubled, and Rivera added a single.
Both squads used five pitchers in Tuesday's finale. Starter Charles Lefebvre (1-2) was tagged with the loss after two innings of work that yielded three runs on three hits and one walk.
"We pitched some guys in different roles in game two and was nice to see them have a little success, Torrez added. "Even though things didn't go our way today, I never saw our kids lay down, we kept trying to compete all day."
The Warriors will have ample opportunity to get back on the winning track this weekend as IHCC is scheduled for five games in three days. Friday Indian Hills will travel to Creston for a makeup contest with Southwestern (2 p.m.), and then the Warriors will travel to Iowa Falls for a four-game, two-day set with Ellsworth on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (noon).
GAME ONE
Indian Hills 045 000 0 – 9 9 0
Southeastern 000 038 x – 11 8 1
WP – Jacob Sullivan, LP – Gavin Hinkley (1-1)
(2B – Rivera, Van Grieken; RBI – Castillo, Fortier, Morrow, Perez, Rivera 2, Van Grieken; HBP – Castillo, Janssen; SB – Morrow; CS – Morrow)
GAME TWO
Indian Hills 100 101 000 – 3 5 1
Southeastern 301 001 02x – 7 7 2
WP – Kyle Lehmann; LP – Charles Lefebvre (1-2)
(2B – Ebest, Morrow; RBI – Morrow; HBP – Castillo, Janssen; SB – Castillo, Rivera 2)