Arkansas City, KS – The Indian Hills Baseball team closed out its four-game series with No. 17 Cowley College in convincing fashion with a 6-2 victory over the Tigers. Indian Hills split the series with Cowley and now move to 7-5 on the year.
The Indian Hills offense staked a 6-0 lead through seven innings as freshman pitcher Jason Schaaf (Las Vegas, NV/Palo Verde) tossed six shutout innings to carry the Warriors in the finale on Monday. The Warriors collected nine hits in the win while holding the Tigers to just five base knocks.
"After game one of the weekend, our guys really started to fight," stated head coach Matthew Torrez. "Our pitchers did a great job and the offense did enough for us to salvage a split on the weekend. When you face good programs like Cowley with a good coaching staff, you really are challenged and I thought we did a great job the last couple of games."
Sophomore Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy) collected a first inning stolen base to reach 50 career swipes for his career. Figueroa becomes just the third player since 1994 to reach the milestone, joining Julio Campos (1997-98) and Junior Santos (2013-14). Campos' 52 stolen bases are the most since 1994 while Santos' 51 are the second-most.
After dropping the opening game 8-0 on Saturday, the Warriors bounced back to take two of the next three contests, including Monday's victory. The final three contests were decided by a total of six runs.
Indian Hills built a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run double from sophomore Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) to score Dylan Sayles (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) and Figueroa. Schaaf held the Tigers to just three baserunners through the first four frames as Indian Hills tacked on another run in both the fourth and fifth frames. Vargas' second double of the day drove in Logan Myers (Andover, MN/Andover) for a 4-0 lead after five.
Indian Hills tacked on two more in the seventh as Vargas delivered a sac fly for his fourth RBI of the afternoon. Sayles later scored on a passed ball to close out the scoring for the Warriors.
Schaaf scattered four base hits in six scoreless innings of work as the freshman struck out six. Cowley brought in two runs in the seventh before Evan Magill (Highlands Ranch, CO/Mountain Vista) and Carlos Valenzuela (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Global Life Vision) combined to keep the Tigers scoreless over the final two innings.
Schaaf improved to 2-0 on the year with the win and lowered his season earned run average to 0.66 in 13.2 innings of work. The freshman has struck out 16 batters with just one walk issued in three appearances.
Vargas finished the game 2-4 with a career-high four RBI. Merrick Mathews (Centerville, IA/Centerville) and Ciro Benavides (Laredo, TX/Alexander) added two base hits each for Indian Hills.
Indian Hills is set to make its home debut Friday afternoon for a doubleheader with Ellsworth Community College at Pat Daugherty Field. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM.
50 stolen bases ��
— Indian Hills Baseball (@IHCCBaseball) March 6, 2023
Daniel Figueroa becomes just the third Indian Hills player since 1994 to reach 50 career stolen bases!#WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/NJiFiP2LvS