Council Bluffs, IA – The first-place Indian Hills Baseball squad will hit the road this weekend to take on No. 14 Iowa Western Community College in a three-game Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) series.

DETAILS: Indian Hills vs. No. 14 Iowa Western

Saturday, April 29 | 1:00 PM (7 inn.) & 3:30 (9 inn.)

• First pitch forecast – 63 degrees, mostly sunny

Sunday, April 30 | 12:00 PM (9 inn.)

• First pitch forecast – 50 degrees, partly cloudy

Council Bluffs, IA | Doc Ross Field

WATCH LIVE: Reiver Sports Network

LIVE STATS: Indian Hills Baseball Gamechanger App

In a matchup of the top two ICCAC Division I teams, the Warriors (30-11, 19-6) will travel to Doc Ross Field to take on the No. 14 nationally ranked Reivers (31-9, 16-9)

LEADING OFF

The Warriors enter the three-game weekend series atop the combined ICCAC standings, one full game ahead of Iowa Central Community College and Southeastern Community College. Iowa Western currently sits in fifth-place among the DI / DII standings.

• Winners of six in a row, the Warriors look to close out an impressive month with a strong showing. The Warriors are currently 19-3 in the month of April.
• During the team's last eight games, Indian Hills has outscored the opposition 102-31 with an average of 12.8 runs per game.
• Jack Nelson and Jesus Rodriguez swept the weekly ICCAC Athlete of the Week awards for the Warriors.
• Indian Hills is 11-5 on the road this year.

WARRIORS TO WATCH

The Warriors are riding an impressive stretch during the month of April with a number of standout performances.

• Jack Nelson landed his fifth ICCAC Pitcher of the Week award this week after striking out 10 batters to move to 6-2 on the year. The sophomore leads the ICCAC with 65 strikeouts this season.
• Jesus Rodriguez is currently on a 13-game hitting streak where the freshman is batting 27-50 (.540) with 28 RBI and 23 runs scored.
• Sergio Chavez has been on a tear at the plate as of late to reach the .300 batting average club. Chavez is on a five-game hitting streak, going 10-16 (.625) with eight RBI.
• Thomas Maathuis is coming off a career-day at the plate with nine RBI and a pair of home runs in a rout of Marshalltown on Wednesday.
• The Warrior bullpen has been impressive down the stretch, led by the likes of Sam Hart, Nathan Smithburg, Carlos Valenzuela, and Andres Beltran with all four hurlers leading the team in appearances this year. The quartet has combined for seven wins and 10 saves this year.

LAST TIME OUT

The two long-time conference foes last met in the NJCAA Region XI Championship game on May 14, 2022 where the Reivers outlasted the Warriors in the winner-take-all contest. Indian Hills defeated Iowa Western to force the elimination game before the Reivers held on to advance to the NJCAA District Tournament.

SERIES HISTORY

The top two programs in the ICCAC throughout the years, Indian Hills and Iowa Western have squared off 85 times over the last 11 seasons with the Reivers holding a 63-22 advantage during the stretch.

The two squads have traded season series wins over the last two years as Iowa Western took a 5-2 advantage last year after the Warriors earned the 4-3 series in 2021 where Indian Hills advanced to the JUCO World Series.

SCOUTING THE REIVERS

Iowa Western jumped out to a 19-0 record and a top-five national ranking in the early goings of the regular season, but the Reivers have dropped nine of its last 25 games, all ICCAC contests since. Iowa Western is just 4-5 in its last nine outings.

• The Reivers currently rank 15^th in the nation in both on-base percentage (.454) and slugging percentage (.548) and rank 17^th overall with a .341 batting average.
• Iowa Western is currently 15-6 at home this year and sports a .328 batting average at Doc Ross Field.
• Nine different Reivers own a batting average of .300 or batter, led by the recent surge of Josh Wakefield's .537 clip. Tyler Stone owns a .366 batting average while leading the team with 10 home runs and 49 RBI.
• Ryan Reyerson leads the pitching staff with a 1.78 earned run average and a 6-0 record in 30.1 innings of work while Huston Halverson is 4-0 in four starts.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS

The home stretch of the regular season is here, and the three-game weekend series will have an impact on the final standings. Following this weekend's series, both sides have five ICCAC road contests remaining on their schedule. The Warriors' schedule featured second-place Southeastern while the Reivers' schedule features third-place Northeast Community College (NE).

Six teams are separated by just 3.5 games in the league standings.

This year's NJCAA DI Baseball Region XI Tournament will be held at Pat Daugherty Field in Centerville May 11-13.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Warriors road stretch continues with a doubleheader at North Iowa Area Community College on May 3. Indian Hills will wrap up its regular season May 5-6 at Southeastern Community College for a three-game conference slate.

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