Vincennes, Ind. - They came, they saw, they swept. The Illinois Central College baseball team (10-14, 6-2) swept the Vincennes Trailblazers on Sunday to take the series with an unblemished 4-0 mark over the weekend, ahead of the trip west back home for a game at Thome Field on Tuesday. 

GAME 1 | ICC COUGARS 7, VINCENNES 0
The Cougar bats would slowly chip away at the scoreboard over the course of game one of Sunday's doubleheader, never scoring more than two runs in an inning. That being said, the pitching held its own, with Gavin Thompson throwing a complete game shutout (statistics below), retiring the game's first eight batters. 

For the second consecutive game, Luke Doty led the game off with a hit. A Bryce Bishop walk and Kyle Mack fielder's choice got the lead runner out, but kept two on for the Cougars. Noah Campbell would tack on a couple runs with a two-run single in the first. 

After a first-pitch single to start the second from Kannon Kleine, he would advance to second on a sacrifice bunt, third on a groundout, and eventually coming around to score on a wild pitch. ICC kept up the plate discipline in the inning, with Doty and Bryce Bishop both drawing walks, leading to an RBI single from Mack to go ahead 4-0 after one and a half. 

A few scoreless innings would follow, before the Cougars got back to the scoreboard. Walks drawn by Tyler Bishop and Campbell were followed by a Jacob Castleman single, loading the bases with just one out. With at least a run bound to score, that run would come when Kleine singled home Tyler Bishop for a 5-0 lead in the fifth. 

As much as singles showed themselves, the power came up via a Bryce Bishop solo shot in the sixth. Campbell would single home Tyler Bishop to put the game away. 

By game's end, Gavin Thompson had tossed four 1-2-3 innings. 

HITTING STATS
Luke Doty (CF) | 1 single, 1 walk, 2 stolen bases
Bryce Bishop (RF) | 1 home run, 1 RBI, 2 walks
Kyle Mack (DH) | 1 single, 1 RBI
Tyler Bishop (1B) | 1 walk
Noah Campbell (SS) | 2 singles, 3 RBI, 2 walks
Jacob Castleman (3B) | 2 singles
Kannon Kleine (C) | 2 singles, 1 RBI
Ashton Horchem (LF) | 1 walk, 1 stolen base

PITCHING STATS
Gavin Thompson (CG W) | 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

GAME 2 | ICC COUGARS 11, VINCENNES 5
The second game did not start off quite as positively. See, the Trailblazers poured it on with a five-run second inning to take a 5-0 lead through two. Not to fret, the Cougars would score 11 runs unanswered and take all four games of the series. 

Plate discipline continued to be a bit of a theme of the day, as the Cougars drew three walks (Kyle Mack, Tyler Hansen, and Riley McCallister) to load the bases with two outs in the third. They would all score when Eli Boeye lined a triple into right field to pull within 5-3 through two and a half innings. 

Vincennes' first three batters all reached, but the next three were retired, keeping the comeback in play. ICC would indeed counter, getting a Luke Doty single, Bryce Bishop walk, and Mack single to get within a mere run at 5-4. Jacob Castleman and Hansen also drew walks in the fourth, with Hansen's being when the bases were loaded, tying the game at five runs apiece. Mack tagged up for a sacrifice fly from McCallister to take a 6-5 lead, one they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. 

Bryce Bishop would tack on an RBI groundout to go up 7-5 in the fifth before both teams' bats went dormant for a brief while. It wouldn't be until the top of the eighth that there was a breakthrough. Mack drew a leadoff walk. Castleman singled. Riley McCallister got the runs back on the board with an RBI single, bringing home Mack and Castleman for a 9-5 lead. 

After holding the Trailblazers scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, icing on the cake was a Luke Doty RBI sacrifice fly (scoring Campbell) and a Bryce Bishop RBI groundout (scoring Nick Piazza) to set the final score. 

Once the day was done, the Cougars drew an impressive 21 walks over the course of the twinbill. 

HITTING STATS
Luke Doty (CF) | 2 singles, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 4 stolen bases
Bryce Bishop (RF) | 1 RBI, 1 walk
Kyle Mack (1B) | 1 single, 1 RBI, 3 walks
Jacob Castleman (3B) | 1 single, 1 walk
Tyler Hansen (LF) | 1 RBI, 2 walks
Riley McCallister (DH) | 3 singles, 3 RBI, 1 walk, 1 stolen base
Eli Boeye (C) | 1 triple, 3 RBI, 2 walks
Noah Campbell (SS) | 1 single, 1 walk
Griffin Roesch (2B) | 2 walks
Nick Piazza | 1 double

PITCHING STATS
Cole Thomas | 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO
Chase Martin | 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Broker Bailey | 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO
Ian McGhiey | 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Lake Land Lakers (10-11-1)
Tuesday, March 19th - 4:00 PM
Thome Field - East Peoria, Ill.
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