OTTUMWA, IA – No. 13-ranked Indian Hills extended its current winning streak to five straight as the Warriors remained hot with two five-inning run-rule victories over visiting Southwestern Wednesday afternoon at R.L. Hellyer Field, 13-2 and 9-1.

The games were originally scheduled for Spartan Field in Creston, but administrators decided mid-morning to move the contests to Ottumwa to ensure the games were played.

"The whole day was a good mental check for us," said IHCC Head Coach Lindsay Diehl.  "We got 30 minutes down the road and had to come back here and the weather wasn't great.  I didn't appreciated the way we started game one by letting the weather affect our mental and physical approach to the game, but I saw us make a switch and we started to put some better swings on the ball to get run support."

Despite the less-than-ideal conditions with wind chills in the mid 30s with a damp brisk wind, the home field suited the Warriors just fine as the hosts pounded Spartan pitching for 15 hits in the opener and nine more in game two that finished under the lights at Hellyer.

It was a tight contest through 2 ½ frames in the opener as the two squads were deadlocked at 1-1.  The Warrior bats came alive in the third and fourth frame; however, as they pushed six runs across in each inning, setting it up for a premature ending in the fifth.

IHCC played long ball in taking the opener as Gretta Hartz, Gracie Jevyak and Chloe Olson all hit homeruns. Olson got the party started with a solo shot to lead off the third, and Jevyak kept the rally going with a two-run job later in the inning. Hartz tagged her own two-run bomb to left in the fourth. Hartz and centerfielder Peyton Moffet went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the offense, while Breanna Newton and Nicole Bellis each had a pair of base hits.

"It was exciting to see different kids step up and get some big hits with four home runs from four different kids on a cold day," Diehl added.  "I love that we don't have to rely on one or two kids to be our big hitters.  They are all through our lineup and kids are starting to get comfortable at the plate and hit the way I know they can."

Malarie Huseman (7-2) collected the win in the circle for the Warriors, now winners of eight of their last nine contests.  Huseman scattered five hits over her five innings of work, striking out seven and walking two.

The nightcap saw the visitors from Creston grab a brief lead in the top of the first as Kaitlyn Schad got into a Margo van Eijl two-out offering that would land beyond the left field fence to make it 1-0, Southwestern.  That would be all van Eijl would give up the rest of the way as the right hander moved her record to 3-0 with a three-hit, five-strikeout performance.

"It was great to see Malarie and Margot continue to gain more confidence in the circle," said Diehl.  "They know their defense will go make some plays for them."

The IHCC offense had plenty of pop behind their pitcher as the Warriors answered SWCC's opening salvo with three runs of their own, and then two more in the bottom of the second to make it 5-1, Indian Hills. A Kennedy Preston double, one of three two-baggers the Carlisle product would collect on the day, put the Warriors back ahead in the bottom of the first, and Hartz had an RBI-single to make it 3-1 after one frame.  Moffet's left-handed stick lifted a long fly to center that would make it to the parking lot with one on and one out in the second to make it 5-1, Warriors.

Another two-RBI double from Preston in the fourth extended the IHCC advantage to 7-1, and Bellis brought things to a close in the bottom of the fifth as her double to center plated Jalila Hart and Moffet to make it 9-1, which enacted the 8-run-after-five-innings rule and the Warriors clinched the sweep.

"We are coming together as a team and I think we are going to find our groove going into April," Diehl predicted.

The wins move IHCC to 13-2 overall and 5-1 in ICCAC play, while Southwestern falls to 7-12-1 and 0-6 in league play.

The two squads were originally scheduled to face off in another twinbill today (Thursday), but a wet forecast has postponed that slate.  No makeup date has been set yet.  Indian Hills hosts Marshalltown (2-18, 0-6) for a four-game set on Saturday and Sunday with the first doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.  Sunday's double-dip begins at noon.

GAME ONE

Southwestern                 001 01 – 2    6   2

Indian Hills                    106 6x – 13  15  1

WP – Malarie Huseman (7-2), LP – Ali Enright

(2B – Preston; HR – Hartz, Jevyak, Olson; RBI – Bellis 2, Hartz 3, Jevyak 2, Moffet, Olson 2, Poortinga; SB – Mehaffy; CS – Olson).

GAME TWO

Southwestern                 100 00 – 1  3  1

Indian Hills                    320 22 – 9 9  2

WP – Margot van Eijl (3-0), LP – Thayda Houser

(2B – Bellis 2, Preston 2; HR – Moffet; RBI – Bellis 2, Hartz, Moffet 2, Preston 4; SB – Bellis, Hart, Hartz, Mehaffy)