Neosho, MO – For the third time in five games, the Indian Hills Baseball squad knocked off a nationally ranked opponent as the Warriors upended No. 9 Crowder College (MO) 7-1 on the road Tuesday afternoon. The Warriors improve to 3-2 overall on the year.
The Warriors' early season road trip continued on Tuesday, three days after knocking off then-No. 6 Cowley College (KS) to earn a four-game series split. Crowder entered Tuesday's affair ranked No. 9 in the national rankings, and later in the afternoon were bumped up to No. 6 in the latest poll release after winning seven of their previous eight contests. The Warriors halted the Roughriders' winning ways by scoring five runs over the final two innings to earn the win.
The Warriors pounded out 12 hits on the day, including three from Gerardo Villarreal (Laredo, TX/United South) who went 3-4 with two runs scored in the win. Jackson Romero (Fort Collins, CO/Resurrection Christian) added a pair of knocks while Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) and Tucker Ebest (Austin, TX/Lasa) each collected pinch-hit base hits.
Sophomore Jurgen Zwitzer (Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands/Thorbecke Voortgezet Onderwijs) made his first start of the season while going four innings and striking out four batters with just one earned run. Sophomore Arturo Rodriguez (San Diego, CA/San Ysidro) tossed two innings of scoreless ball with a pair of punchouts to earn the win while Douglas Rojas (Valencia, Venezuela/U.E. Cabriales) closed out the game with two scoreless innings for his first-career save.
After a pair of scoreless frames from Zwitzer on the mound to open the day, the Warriors struck first in the top of the third inning as Ricardo Van Grieken (Merida, VZ/San Luis) drove in Sleiter Suriel (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) for the game's first run. Freshman Merrick Mathews (Centerville, IA/Centerville) doubled the lead with an RBI-single in the fourth inning to score Lukas Broske (West Bend, WI/West Bend West).
Crowder got on the board in the fifth with a single run off of Zwitzer, but the bullpen work of the Warriors limited the Roughriders the rest of the way. Sophomore Dade Hensley (Mason, OH/Mason) worked a scoreless fifth, retiring three consecutive batters. Rodriguez worked a scoreless sixth and seventh before Rojas managed the Warrior lead the rest of the way.
Despite the dominant pitching efforts from the staff, the Warrior offense looked to provide insurance down the stretch. In his first at bat of the season, Ebest delivered a two-run double to score Van Grieken and Villarreal for a 4-1 lead. Figueroa scored on a passed ball in the ninth and Thomas Emerich delivered the final blow, a two-run single to score Van Grieken and Villarreal for the game's final scores.
The Warriors will now travel further south to take on Baton Rouge Community College for a four-game series in Louisiana. The first doubleheader is set for Thursday morning while the final two contests will take place on Saturday afternoon. Thursday's matchup will be played at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, LA while Saturday is scheduled to be played on the Baton Rouge campus.