Millington, TN – On its second day of the 2023 campaign, the Indian Hills Baseball team picked up two victories on day two of the Flag City Classic at the USA Baseball Complex. The Warriors dropped Lake Michigan Community College 15-4 and Jefferson College (MO) 5-3.
One day removed from scoring just one run in the team's season opener, the Warriors erupted for 15 runs on 17 hits in Saturday's opener to earn its first victory of the year against Lake Michigan as eight different Warriors collected a hit, including six with multiple knocks. Five different Warriors scattered six hits on the mound while Greg Campos (Laredo, TX/United South) picked up the win in the sophomore's season debut.
"Happy how we pieced together a couple big innings offensively in the opener," stated head coach Matthew Torrez. "Hitters did a better job taking what the pitcher was giving us and putting a good swing on it. We were able to force the action a couple times and allow our speed to help us also."
Sophomore Sergio Chavez (Laredo, TX/John B. Alexander) went 3-5 at the plate with a career-high four RBI. Freshman Raul Torres (Caguas, PR/Leadership Christian Academy) added three base hits and three runs scored. Freshman Miguel Salazar (Sentaines, Venezuela / San Luis) connected on his first-career home run and finished the game with a pair of hits and three RBI.
Campos worked 3.1 innings on the mound while striking out four batters for his fourth career victory. Freshman Jason Schaaf (Las Vegas, NV/Palo Verde) added 1.2 innings of scoreless relief while Carlos Valenzuela (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Global Life Vision) closed out the game with a scoreless seventh.
The Warrior defense used three double plays, including two inning-end double-ups in the win. All three were turned by Chavez, Salazar, and Torres.
Indian Hills struck first in the third inning as Torres and sophomore Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy) scored on a double from Chavez. Indian Hills tacked on four more in the fourth. Mathews and Ciro Benavides (Laredo, TX/Alexander) added RBI base knocks for the 6-0 lead.
The Red Hawks battled back with a run in the bottom half of the fourth and three more in the fifth before Schaaf silenced the offense.
The Warriors broke things open in the top half of the seventh with nine runs. Salazar delivered the big hit of the night with a three-run hom run to left field. Chavez added a two-run double to extend the lead before an Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) RBI single capped the scoring.
"Overall we played a pretty good game as a team and got a few more players some quality time on the field."
The nightcap pitted the Warriors vs. a perennial national contender in Jefferson, a team that opened the year with a 6-2 mark. After freshman Sebastian Khan (Brampton, Ontario/David Zuzuki) posted a scoreless opening frame, Jefferson struck first with a pair of runs in the second to take an initial lead.
Following back-to-back scoreless innings, the Warrior offense responded with a five-spot in the third inning. Figueroa opened the scoring with an RBI single to score Diamonds Cooper (Kansas City, MO/North Kansas City) before a bases loaded hit by pitch tied the game.
Freshman Logan Myers (Andover, MN/Andover) delivered the game-changing knock of the inning with a bases-loaded triple, scoring Figueroa, Mathews, and Chavez.
Jefferson tacked on one run in the fifth, but a strong bullpen presence from Nathan Smithburg (Fairfield, IA/Fairfield), Andres Beltran (Delray Beach, FL/Atlantic) and Sam Hart (Highlands Ranch, CO/ThunderRidge) limited the Vikings to just three hits over the final 5.2 innings.
Smithburg was credited with the win after tossing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief without allowing a hit. Hart closed out the game to earn his second career save. In 2.2 innings of work, Hart struck out seven batters for the Warriors.
"Really excited about our effort for the day – we came out on both ends of the doubleheader with some excitement and energy and really competed for the most part. Our hitters in game two gave us just enough runs and our bullpen settled down with Andres and Sam giving us quality work to secure the win."
The Warriors wrap up play at the Flag City Classic Sunday morning with an 11:00 AM matchup with Lincoln Land Community College at the USA Baseball Stadium.