Centerville, IA – The Indian Hills Baseball team swept Marshalltown Community College in a home doubleheader Saturday afternoon, topping the Tigers in a pair of run-rule shortened affairs 10-0 and 13-3. The Warriors improve to 12-5 overall and 3-0 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play.
The Warriors used a number of impressive individual performances to rout the Tigers in Saturday's doubleheader at Pat Daugherty Field. Freshman James Dutton (Toronto, Canada/Forest Hill Collegiate Institute) reached base seven times on the day with five base hits, four going for extra bases. The outfielder also stole a pair of bases and drove in three runs while scoring three times.
The top five hitters in the lineup in game one which included Dutton finished the opener 10-15 at the plate with six runs scored and four RBI.
On the mound, freshman Jack Nelson (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) worked 5.2 innings in the opener to earn his second win of the season. Nelson did not allow a run and struck out a career-high 11 batters. Douglas Rojas (Valencia, Venezuela/U.E. Cabriales) produced three scoreless frames of relief in game two with seven strike outs. The Warrior pitching staff struck out 23 total batters on the afternoon.
The Warriors opened up the day gradually pulling away from Marshalltown in game one. Diego Aragon (Fort Collins, CO/Fort Collins) and Gerardo Villarreal (Laredo, TX/United South) each delivered RBI singles for a 2-0 lead after three. The Warriors added four runs in the fourth, highlighted by an RBI-double from Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, PR/Leadership Christian Academy). Ricardo Van Grieken (Merida, Venezuela/San Luis) closed out the scoring in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single.
Figueroa, Van Grieken, Villarreal, Tucker Ebest (Austin, TX/Lasa), and Dutton all went 2-3 at the top of the order for the Warriors. Jackson Romero (Fort Collins, CO/Resurrection Christian) added a double while Sleiter Surriel (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) tripled in the win.
Nelson was dominant in the victory, allowing just five baserunners in total. The lefthanded hurler struck out the side in the fifth inning to cap his best performance of the year.
Dutton picked up where he left off to open game two as the freshman drove in Figueroa on a single in the first inning. With a 2-1 lead in the third, Dutton once again sparked the offense with a run-scoring double to right field.
The Tigers eventually fought back to tie the game at three, but for the second consecutive game, the Warriors broke the game open in the fourth. A bases loaded single from Van Grieken ultimately led to all three runs crossing the plate as Indian Hills took advantage of a Tiger miscue. Leading 7-3, Dutton collected his third double of the afternoon to drive in Van Grieken.
Figueroa added a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a two-run single in the sixth to help Indian Hills build a 12-3 lead. Noah Bulter (Houston, TX/Goose Creek Memorial) scored the game's final run in the seventh.
Along with Dutton's three hits in the nightcap, Thomas Emerich (Ava, MO/Ava) went 2-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Figueroa drove in three runs along with two stolen bases.
Arturo Rodriguez (San Diego, CA/San Ysidro) recorded the win, his second of the season after striking out five batters in four innings. Rojas allowed just one walk in three innings of work to lower his earned run average to 3.26 on the year.
Dutton upped his team-leading batting average to .485 on the year which ranks seventh in the nation. The freshman has posted six games this season with at least two hits.
Indian Hills and Marshalltown resume play Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader at Pat Daugherty Field. The first contest, scheduled for nine innings, will be a conference matchup while game two is a nonconference seven-inning contest.
