Centerville, IA – Indian Hills Baseball took over sole possession of second-place in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) standings with a sweep of Southwestern Community College at home on Sunday. The Warriors took game one 8-2 before dropping the Spartans 18-2 in the nightcap.
The Warriors improved to 26-11 overall on the year and 16-6 in the ICCAC to move within one game of first-place Southeastern Community College. The Warriors sit a half game ahead of Iowa Central Community College who split with Southeastern on Sunday.
Indian Hills totaled 27 hits on the day, including seven extra base hits in game two alone. The Warriors have now scored at least 15 runs in a contest six times this year and lead the ICCAC Division I ranks with 303 runs scored. The Warriors also top the league in hits (355) and RBI (264).
Game one saw the Warriors do all of their damage in the first two innings after building an 8-0 lead early on. Jesus Rodriguez (Dominican Republic/Life Prep Academy) drove in Merrick Mathews (Centerville, IA/Centerville) for the game's first run before Sergio Chavez (Laredo, TX/John B. Alexander) added a run-scoring single.
Rodriguez pushed the lead to 5-1 in the second with a two-run double to right. Chavez followed up with a two-run single through the left side to extend the lead.
Indian Hills starting pitcher Jack Nelson (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville Community) held the Spartan bats at bay with just one earned run through six innings of work. Nelson struck out 10 batters, the sophomore's fourth consecutive game with at least nine strikeouts. Nelson now leads the ICCAC with six wins and 65 strikeouts on the year.
Indian Hills jumped out to another quick start in game two with a 7-2 lead through the opening two frames. A two-run single from Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) highlighted the first inning while Mathews and Chavez each added extra base run-scoring hits in the second.
After an RBI single from Rodriguez in the fourth, the Warriors exploded for eight runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to force the run-rule shortened victory.
Eight different Warriors tallied a hit in the game two win, including a 3-4 effort from sophomore Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy). Figueroa added four runs scored and a pair of RBI. Figueroa also picked up his 37th stolen base of the year, tied for sixth-most in the nation.
Chavez picked up two more hits in the nightcap to finish the doubleheader with four hits and four RBI. Freshman Raul Torres (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy) went 2-4 with four RBI while Vargas finished with a pair of hits and three RBI.
Rodriguez added two more hits in game two to extend his team-high hitting streak to 10 games. During the 10-game stretch, Rodriguez is batting .541 (20-37) with 20 RBI and 17 runs scored.
The Warrior pitching staff was anchored by starter Greg Campos (Laredo, TX/United South) who was sharp on the mound. Campos picked up his third win of the year while scattering three hits in 5.2 innings of work. Lou Levy (Highlands Ranch, CO/Mountain Vista) worked a flawless 1.1 innings of relief.
Sunday's contest served as sophomore day for nine members of this year's class playing in their final regular season series at Pat Daugherty Field: Andrew Srebroski, Masataka Kubota, Daniel Figueroa, Greg Campos, Adrian Vargas, Jack Nelson, Sam Hart, Merrick Mathews, and Sergio Chavez.
The two teams will wrap up their ICCAC series Monday afternoon at Pat Daugherty Field for a doubleheader. Game one will serve as a single 9-inning conference game while game two is designated as a non-conference 7-inning affair.
