Arkansas City, KS – The Indian Hills Baseball squad salvaged a series split with No. 6 nationally ranked Cowley College (KS) on Saturday after scoring a 14-9 victory over the Tigers on the road. The Warriors won the opening game on Thursday and closed out the four-game series with the win on Saturday to move to 2-2 on the year.

The Warriors pounded out a season-high 16 hits in Saturday's win while scoring a season-high 14 runs. Eight different Warriors collected a hit while four had multi-hit performances, including a 4-6 afternoon from freshman Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, PR/Leadership Christian Academy). Freshman Sergio Chavez (Laredo, TX/John B. Alexander) connected on two home runs two finish the day 3-5 at the plate with three RBI.

Jack Payne (San Antonio, TX/Clark) worked 2.2 innings of relief to earn the win, the second of the year for the COVID-freshman. Payne struck out four batters and allowed just one hit with zero earned runs in an effective appearance. Gercal Reyes Alvarado (Santo Domingo, DR/Fray Ramon Pane) closed out the game with 1.1 innings of scoreless ball while striking out a pair of batters to earn his first-career save.

The Warriors struck first with a run in the top of the second as Ricardo Van Grieken (Merida, VZ/San Luis HS) crossed the plate. After a run in the bottom of the frame from Cowley, Indian Hills piled on three runs in the third as Gerardo Villarreal (Laredo, TX/United South) opened up his big day with a two-run home run, his first of the year. Van Grieken added a run-scoring single to drive in Chavez for the 4-1 lead.

Villarreal added an RBI in the fourth before Cowley tied the game at five with a four-run fourth. Payne took over on the mound and retired both batters he faced in the fourth to slow the damage. Payne added a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth to keep the tied, setting the stage for an explosive sixth inning for the Warrior offense.

Freshman Merrick Matthews (Centerville, IA/Centerville) delivered a two-run home run to ignite the offense in the sixth. Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) produced a run-scoring single to score Figueroa and Thomas Emerich (Ava, MO/Ava) drove in two runs on a single. Lukas Broske (West Bend, WI/West Bend West) capped the scoring in the frame with a single to score Chavez. Payne struck out a pair of batters in the bottom half as the Warriors held an 11-5 advantage.

After a solo home run from Chavez in the eighth, the Tigers tacked on four runs in the bottom half of the frame to bring the game within three, 12-9. Chavez put the game out of reach with a two-run shot in the top of the ninth as Alvarado closed out the game with the save.

The Warriors' competitive early season nonconference schedule resumes with a trip to Crowder College (MO) at 1:00 PM on March 8.