Centerville, IA – Sophomore Jack Nelson (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville Community) carved up the opposition to lead Indian Hills Baseball to a doubleheader sweep of Iowa Lakes Community College on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors took game one 11-0 before sweeping the day with a 14-4 game two win.
Indian Hills moves to 13-8 overall on the year and 6-3 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).
Nelson produced his second consecutive scoreless outing as the sophomore recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts to power the Warriors. The southpaw faced just 16 hitters on the day while allowing just one base hit, a leadoff single.
Nelson has not allowed a run in his last 11 innings, a span of two starts that has seen the sophomore strike out 20 batters along the way with just five base hits allowed. Nelson has lowered his season earned run average to 2.88.
The Warrior offense took advantage of the Lakers early with five runs in the opening inning. Indian Hills tacked on runs in the third and fourth before closing out the game with four runs in the fifth inning.
Seven different Warriors produced a hit in the opener, including a 3-3 performance from sophomore Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy). Sophomore Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) added a 2-2 effort with three runs scored.
Freshman Ciro Benavides (Laredo, TX/Alexander) drove in five runs on the day, including a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam to end the game.
The Warrior offense continued to thrive in game two with 14 runs scored, the team's second-most this year. Indian Hills took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning before a seven-run outburst in the fourth put the game out of reach. The Warriors added six runs of the final three frames to force the run-rule victory.
Freshman Logan Myers (Andover, MN/Andover) went 3-5 at the dish with three RBI. Diamonds Cooper (Kansas City, KS/North Kansas City) also went 3-5 with a run scored and a pair of stolen bases. Merrick Mathews (Centerville, IA/Centerville) added two hits and three runs scored.
Sophomore pitcher Greg Campos (Laredo, TX/United South) took the victory on the mound with five innings of work to move to 2-0 on the year. Freshmen Tomoki Jitsukawa (tokyo, Japan/Tokai Sapporo) and Lou Levy (Highlands Ranch, CO/Mountain Vista) combined to allowed just one earned run in three innings of relief.
The two teams will conclude its four-game series tomorrow afternoon with a 12:00 PM first pitch at Pat Daugherty Field.
SATURDAY SWEEP! @IHCCBaseball took game two of today's twinbill with @IowaLakesbball with another run-rule-shortened victory, this time a 14-4, eight-inning win. Two more contests tomorrow with the Lakers at Pat Daugherty Field beginning at noon.#WeAreWarriors #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/FuafK34Ukd
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) April 2, 2023
