Quincy, Ill. - Late into the MWAC season, it was one of few remaining road trips for the ICC baseball program (14-24, 10-17), as the Cougars were in Quincy on Mother's Day to conclude their four-game series with the John Wood Blazers. Both games saw late offensive surges by the victors, but it was ultimately a split, with the Cougars taking the opener, and the host Blazers taking the nightcap.
Game One | ICC COUGARS 9, John Wood 3
The Cougars wasted no time getting on the board, when
Ben Nofsinger continued his record-setting season by launching a home run all of three batters into the game.
Max Jones scoring on a wild pitch had ICC ahead 2-0 after just a half inning. Yet, the Blazers would answer right back with a homer of their own to even the game at two apiece.
ICC had the long ball working, when
Jake Burge added the Cougars second home run of the game.
From there, the pitching took hold for both sides. For the Cougars, it was
Bryce Brecklin who was dealing, holding the Blazers to four consecutive scoreless innings, ultimately striking out nine over a 113-pitch outing.
John Wood would tie it on an RBI single in the sixth. ICC's bats had other ideas. In theory, they only needed one run to take the lead. The Cougars wouldn't stop there. In fact, the first run would cross the plate when
Coltin Quagliano scored on a
Travis Lutz sacrifice fly. To that point, Quagliano, Jones, and
Brody Reed all reached on walks.
The walk would continue to plague Blazer pitching, as
Josh Heyder would tack on the fourth and final free pass of the inning.
Chase Ulrich would also swat the Cougars' third homer of the game to set the 9-3 final score.
Game Two | John Wood 9, ICC COUGARS 4
While ICC's offense exploded for nine runs in the first game of the doubleheader, the bats would fall quiet in game two. The trio of
Joe Nelan,
Aden Emery, and
Kaiden Rixner limited the damage to no more than one-run innings from the Blazer offense.
Brody Reed would come up with a big hit late, hitting a two-run home run to tie the game in the top of the seventh.
The Cougars would suffer a big blow, when John Wood hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom half to take the lead right back.
Home runs continued to rain down, as the Cougars added one last one (five for the day), when
Max Jones flew a solo shot out to left field to get within one in the latter frames.
John Wood had a big opportunity to add insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, and capitalize, they did. The first three batters of the inning all reached, before the Blazers continued the home run barrage by both sides with a three-run shot to set the 9-4 final score.
ICC would get one runner on in the 9th (Quagliano walk), but the Blazers' 13 hits were too much in the end.
The silver lining, despite the loss, is that the Cougars still had won the 2022 series with the Blazers, with game one's win being their third of four against John Wood.
What's Next?
The Cougars meet up again with Carl Sandburg on Wednesday, this time on home ground and under the lights at Thome Field. The last time the Chargers and Coguars battled, it ended in a 21-run slugfest, with Carl Sandburg taking the 11-10 victory. Wednesday's first pitch from East Peoria is set for 6:00 PM.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
