Canton, Ill. - The Illinois Central College baseball team (15-22, 11-7) made the short trip over to Canton to take on the Spoon River Snappers on Saturday afternoon. Balanced batting and quality pitching powered the Cougars to a doubleheader sweep, capped by Gavin Thompson twirling a no-hitter in the second game, and giving ICC wins by scores of 9-1 and 11-0, giving the Cougars an early 2-0 lead in the series. 

ICC COUGARS 9, SPOON RIVER 1
Both teams' bats got off to a bit of a slow start, with the Snappers holding a slim 1-0 lead after three innings. In the top of the fourth, ICC was down to their final out of the frame, but consecutive RBI hits from Nick Piazza (single) and Luke Doty (2-run double) put the Cougars ahead 3-1. 

From there, ICC's bats would slowly chip away to expand the lead, tacking on one run in the fifth (Kannon Kleine RBI single) and sixth (Kyle Mack RBI groundout) innings to take a 5-1 advantage.

Gus Lucas continued to hold down the mound, shutting out the Snappers the rest of the way. Lucas's defense was behind him as well, with Mack and Noah Campbell teaming up for a 3-6-3 double play and ending the bottom of the sixth. 

Looking to add some insurance, the Cougar bats ramped up one last time for the game. A Mack RBI single, Tyler Bishop RBI sacrifice fly, and Campbell RBI single gave the Cougars plenty of cushion to ride the opener out to a 9-1 victory. 

COUGAR BATTING
Luke Doty (CF) | 2 singles, 1 double, 2 RBI, 1 walk, 1 stolen base
Bryce Bishop (RF) | 2 walks, 1 hit by pitch
Kyle Mack (1B) | 2 singles, 3 RBI
Tyler Bishop (DH) | 1 RBI, 1 hit by pitch
Noah Campbell (SS) | 2 singles, 1 RBI, 2 walks
Jacob Castleman (3B) | 1 single
Kannon Kleine (C) | 2 singles, 1 RBI
Ashton Horchem (LF) | 1 single
Nick Piazza (2B) | 1 single, 1 RBI

COUGAR PITCHING
Gus Lucas (W) | 8 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts

ICC COUGARS 11, SPOON RIVER 0
Yet again in game two, it would begin as a pitchers' duel, sitting scoreless after two innings. The third inning saw a ramp up of the offensive pace for the Cougars. An RBI single from Kyle Mack scored Nick Piazza, who'd led the inning off with a single. Luke Doty scored on a wild pitch, and Noah Campbell brought home Mack on a sacrifice fly to go up 3-0. 

Gavin Thompson turned in a high-quality start, tossing 1-2-3 innings to allow the ICC batters to continue pushing forward. A Luke Doty RBI single and RBI walk from Tyler Bishop (on four pitches) made it 5-0. 

Another hitless fourth from Thompson became a 7-0 lead when Doty singled into right field, scoring both Kannon Kleine and Piazza to make it 7-0 after five. 

Two more Thompson strikeouts, four more Cougar runs - a Tyler Bishop RBI double, Kannon Kleine RBI hit by pitch, and two-run single from Riley McCallister to set the final score. 

Thompson capped off his no-hitter with a pair of groundouts, and Doty had the honors of bringing in the final out to secure the no-no. 

COUGAR BATTING
Luke Doty (CF) | 2 singles, 3 RBI, 1 walk
Bryce Bishop (RF) | 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch
Kyle Mack (DH) | 2 singles, 1 RBI
Tyler Bishop (1B) | 2 doubles, 2 RBI, 2 walks
Noah Campbell (SS) | 1 RBI, 1 walk
Jacob Castleman (3B) | 1 walk
Kannon Kleine (C) | 2 singles, 1 RBI, 1 hit by pitch
Riley McCallister (LF) | 1 single, 2 RBI
Nick Piazza (2B) | 2 singles, 1 double, 1 stolen base

COUGAR PITCHING
Gavin Thompson (W) | 6 innings, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts

WHAT'S UP NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Spoon River Snappers (16-22, 4-18)
Sunday, April 14th - 12:00 PM & 2:30 PM
@ Thome Field - East Peoria, Illinois
Watch Live (YouTube)
Live Stats (GameChanger)