Centerville -- Indian Hills made it a clean sweep in their season series with Southwestern CC, beating the Spartans four games in a row on Saturday and Sunday at Pat Daugherty Field. The Falcons took the Saturday games, 7-4 and 9-4, then completed the set with 5-2 and 16-2 victories Sunday. IHCC already owned a 4-0 record vs. SWCC.
The opening game the first day set the tone, the Falcons breaking a 4-4 tie with a run in the bottom of the 4th inning and then adding a pair of insurance tallies in the 5th. Jay Hester supplied three hits and scored two runs. Six players had an RBI. Jameson Hart was one of the six, driving in a run with a triple. Caleb Miley started on the mound and worked three innings. Jordan Bahnuk was strong in his three innings of relief, allowing two hits and a run. Zachary Fascia got the save with a scoreless 7th inning.
IHCC opened up a 6-0 lead after four frames in game two, thanks to four runs in the 4th. They added three more in the 6th. Hester got the Falcons going again with a pair of hits and two runs. Ryan Humeniuk blasted a three-run homer and Fascia had three hits. Hart and Declan Buckle owned two-hit games. DJ DePiero and Hunter Capps combined for mound duties, DePiero throwing the first five innings and Capps finishing. DePiero won his team-leading 6th game of the spring.
The 19 sophomores on the IHCC roster were honored on Sunday and a number of them contributed on Sophomore Day. The Falcons opened a 5-1 lead after three in the first game and made it stand up for the win. Fascia continued his hot hitting with three more hits including a pair of doubles. Christian Pena, Evan Grayson and Buckle had two hits each. Rodny Valdes allowed only two hits in his five innings pitched. Brett Kauzlarich threw the 6th and Fascia, the starting catcher, came on to close out SWCC recording his 9th save of the year.
Indian Hills then finished off the Spartans in style by scoring in all four of their at-bats in the final game. They got a run in the 1st, seven in the 2nd and six in the 3rd, before tacking on two more in the 4th. Yasiel Valdez used all the offense to his advantage in a five-inning complete game. He struck out seven. Humeniuk was a single shy of the cycle, driving in four runs with his double, triple and homer. Will Zimmerman and Buckle scored three times apiece, and Humeniuk, Fascia and Alex Fisher scored two times.
The Falcons have a busy week with non-conference games against North Central Missouri, DMACC and Ellsworth before going to Marshalltown for four conference games next weekend.