Boone, IA – The Indian Hills Baseball team picked up two more wins over Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) on Saturday to take three of the four contests of the weekend series. The Warriors dropped the Bears 11-9 and 12-7 to move to 19-9 overall and 10-4 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play.
Indian Hills used a pair of strong first inning performances in each contest to jump ahead of DMACC early on. The Warriors scored four runs in the first of the opening game before tagging the Bears for seven runs in the first frame of the nightcap. In total, the Warriors produced 19 hits in the afternoon sweep.
Merrick Mathews (Centerville, IA/Centerville) delivered the first big knock of the afternoon with a two-run single in the first inning of game one. Freshman Jesus Rodriguez (Dominican Republic/Life Prep Academy) added a two-run single to right to push the Warrior lead to 4-0.
Sophomore Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) connected on his first-career home run in the third, a two-run shot to give Indian Hills a 6-0 advantage.
DMACC eventually chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the third and fourth and a single run in the fifth before a three-run sixth gave the Bears its first lead of the game at 8-6. After three straight scoreless frame, the Warriors returned to the scoring column in the seventh with three runs, highlighted by a two-run home run from freshman Logan Myers (Andover, MN/Andover) to take a 9-8 lead.
The Warriors tacked on two more runs in the eight, including a Dylan Sayles (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) run on a passed ball to extend the lead to 11-8. A late run from the Bears in the bottom of the eighth proved to be all the home team could manage off the Warrior bullpen as Indian Hills picked up the win.
Rodriguez and Myers both finished with two hits in the opening game. Freshman Sebastain Khan (Brampton, Ontario/David Zuzuki) picked up the win with 2.1 innings of relief work while freshman Nathan Smithburg (Fairfield, IA/Fairfield) added a scoreless frame before Sam Hart (Highlands Ranch, CO/ThunderRidge) closed out the game for his eighth save of the year.
A seven-run first inning gave the Warriors the momentum early on in game two. The Warriors took advantage of three walks and three errors while producing three hits, including a two-run double from Miguel Salazar (Sentaines, Venezuela/San Luis) for the early lead.
After two runs in the bottom of the first from the Bears, Indian Hills added another run in the second before DMACC answered with two runs in the third and three more in the fourth to pull within one, 8-7. Indian Hills once again caused havoc on the base paths and took advantage of three more errors over the final three frames to plate four runs.
The Indian Hills bullpen held the Bears scoreless over the last three frames, led by 3.2 scoreless innings from freshman Giordany Mendoza (Bronx, NY/Inwood Campus) and Raul Torres (Caguas, PR/Leadership Christian Academy) in their first career appearances. Freshman Lou Levy (Highlands Ranch, CO/Mountain Vista) earned his first-career win while striking out three batters.
Ciro Benavides (Laredo, TX/Alexander, Parker Bulthuis (Utrecht, Netherlands/Rocmn), and Luis Martinez (Vega Baja, PR/El Shaddai Christian Academy) each collected two hits in the win while Rodriguez scored three times for the Warriors. Over his last four games, Rodriguez is batting .500 with five runs scored and five RBI.
The Warriors return to action for a conference doubleheader at home vs. Marshalltown Community College on April 12 at Pat Daugherty Field.