Centerville, IA – Indian Hills Baseball took over the top spot in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Baseball standings after another strong showing on the diamond on Monday. The Warriors swept Southwestern Community College 12-2 and 14-4.
The Warriors swept the Spartans in the four-game series over the last two days, three of those contests that were designated as league games. Indian Hills outscored Southwestern 52-10 during the stretch, winning three of those games by double-digits.
Monday's game one 12-2 victory pushed the Warriors to 18-6 overall in the ICCAC standings, a half game ahead of Southeastern Community College. Indian Hills is 28-11 overall on the year and have won 11 of its last 13 contests.
The Warriors built an 8-0 lead through three frames to pull away early in game one. A three-run first was highlighted by an RBI double from Raul Torres (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy). Sergio Chavez's (Laredo, TX/John B. Alexander) strong series continued in the third with an RBI double to right. Freshman Jesus Rodriguez (Santo Domingo/Dominican Republic/Life Prep Academy) and Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) added RBI base hits before Logan Myers (Andover, MN/Andover) connected on a two-run home run.
Leading 8-2 after seven, the Warriors plated three runs in the eighth to force the run-rule shortened victory as Vargas and Myers both tallied RBI knocks.
Rodriguez and Vargas recorded three hits in the game while Myers, Chavez, and Miguel Salazar (Sentaines, Venezuela/San Luis) added two hits apiece.
Chavez finished the weekend 6-9 at the plate, including a pair of extra base hits with six RBI and four runs scored.
Andrei Gordeev (Balashika, Russia/Global Vision Christian) posted 2.2 scoreless innings of work on the mound while Andres Beltran (Delray Beach, FL/Atlantic) moved to 2-0 on the year with 4.1 innings of relief work.
The game two series finale, a non-league contest, saw the Warriors take advantage of 14 walks while tallying seven hits to run past the Spartans. Indian Hills scored three runs in the second and four more in both the third and fourth frames. Indian Hills closed out the game with three runs in the fifth to give the Warriors the run-rule shortened win once again.
Sophomore Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy) tallied four RBI in the win while Thomas Maathuis (Amsterdam, Netherlands/Caland Lyceum) went 2-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Andrew Srebroski (York Haven, PA/Northeastern) went 1-1 at the plate with four runs scored while Diamonds Cooper (Kansas City, MO/North Kansas City) added two RBI and three runs scored.
Figueroa picked up two more steals on Monday and now owns two of the top three single season steals marks in school history.
With a hit in each contest on Monday, Rodriguez extended his team-high hitting streak to 11 games. Rodriguez is batting .561 (23-41) during the stretch with 21 RBI and 19 runs scored.
Sam Hart (Highlands Ranch, CO/ThunderRidge) picked up the win with one unearned run allowed in two innings.
Indian Hills will now hit the road for the remainder of the regular season beginning with a doubleheader at Marshalltown Community College Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors return home May 11 for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI Tournament at Pat Daugherty Field.