East Peoria, Ill. - The only brisk air at Thome Field indicated that of a mid-March contest, when coach
Brett Kelley's Illinois Central College baseball team (2-3) would typically be opening the baseball season, at least at home. Alas, it was a mid-February afternoon, and yes, at Thome Field. The Glen Oaks Vikings had made the voyage eastward for a four-game set with the Cougars. ICC would rebound nicely from the road trip in Carterville, sweeping the day and scoring a combined 22 runs over the course of the two games.
It was a dandy to start the series. In game one, ICC got behind the eight-ball, trailing 6-0 after two innings. From there, though, 15 unanswered runs and five innings of 12-strikeout, 0-hit ball in relief from
Gage Burdick. The Cougars, to a degree, played a bit of small ball, with six of their nine hits being singles. Singles or not, the Cougars took a wild opener, 15-6.
GAME ONE BATTING STATS
Luke Doty (CF) | 2 singles, 2 RBI
Ashton Horchem (LF) | 1 double, 3 RBI, 1 walk
Kyle Mack (1B) | 1 walk
Jacob Castleman (3B) | 1 single, 1 RBI, 1 walk
Kannon Kleine (C) | 1 double, 2 RBI, 2 walks
Tyler Bishop (DH) | 1 RBI
Griffin Roesch (2B) | 1 single, 1 walk
Riley McCallister (RF) | 1 single, 1 RBI, 2 walks
Nick Piazza (SS) | 1 single, 1 double, 3 RBI
GAME ONE PITCHING STATS
Gavin Thompson (ND) | 2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Gage Burdick (W) | 5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 SO
In game two, the Cougars were able to get out to a 4-0 lead through three innings. A bit more small ball, with five of seven hits being singles, bringing the total for the day to 11 hits out of 16 being as such (68.7% of the hits). Nonetheless, six different players got a hit, and the ICC bats also drew eight walks to stay in front and take a 7-2 victory.
GAME TWO BATTING STATS
Luke Doty (CF) | 1 single
Ashton Horchem (LF) | 1 single, 1 walk
Kyle Mack (DH) | 2 walks
Jacob Castleman (3B) | 1 single
Kannon Kleine (C) | 2 walks
Tyler Bishop (1B) | 1 single, 1 triple, 2 RBI, 1 walk
Griffin Roesch (2B) | 1 single, 1 walk
Riley McCallister (RF) | 1 double, 1 RBI, 1 walk
Nick Piazza (SS) | 1 RBI
GAME TWO PITCHING STATS
Gus Lucas (W) | 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
Aiden Leemans (S) | 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Glen Oaks Vikings (1-5)
Thursday, February 15th - 1:00 / 4:00 PM
Thome Field - East Peoria, Ill.
Live Stats (GameChanger)
