East Peoria, Ill. - The Illinois Central College baseball team (19-23, 14-8) was back home at Thome Field on Saturday afternoon, taking on the John Wood Blazers in another MWAC series. John Wood had one large run-scoring inning that propelled them to a 10-7 victory in the opener, before the Cougars walked off the Blazers in the nightcap, 6-5. 

GAME ONE | JOHN WOOD 10, ICC COUGARS 7
John Wood kept the Cougars off the scoreboard through the first four innings, but Gus Lucas was holding the Blazers off himself, with John Wood holding a mere 1-0 lead through three innings of play. 

Ultimately, the game-decided inning came in the top of the fourth, when the Blazers tacked on nine runs to take control at 10-0 after four. 

That being said, the Cougars bats would break through after that. A two-run fifth saw Kannon Kleine line a first-pitch RBI double into left field, scoring Jacob Castleman, who'd reached on a double. ICC continued to be aggressive early on in the counts, when Luke Doty took a first-pitch RBI single into left field to make it 10-2. 

The defense was helping out as well, with Noah Campbell, Nick Piazza, and Tyler Bishop all teaming up for a 6-4-3 double play to keep it a scoreless sixth inning for John Wood. 

Fortune favors the leadoff baserunner, and ICC certainly took that into account. Tyler Bishop hit a 1-0 single into right. Castleman fought off a 1-2 single. Kleine drew a walk off a full count. That loaded the bases for Ashton Horchem. Earlier in the week, Horchem hit a walkoff home run to win the first of two games versus Spoon River. This time, although not of the walkoff variety, Horchem would do it again, hitting a first-pitch grand slam to pull ICC within 10-6 in the sixth. 

Neither team was able to push across any base runners, all the way through the top of the ninth for John Wood. 

Needing four runs to tie and five to walk it off, the Cougars made a one-run dent, when Tyler Bishop lined a first-pitch RBI double into right field to make it 10-7. Campbell followed with a single, but with the game-tying run at the plate, a pair of strikeouts would follow, snuffing the comeback effort from ICC and giving the Blazers the three-run win. 

COUGAR HITTING
Luke Doty | 1 single, 1 RBI
Bryce Bishop | 2 walks, 1 stolen base
Tyler Bishop | 1 single, 1 double, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch, 1 stolen base
Noah Campbell | 1 single, 1 walk
Jacob Castleman | 1 single, 1 double
Kannon Kleine | 1 double, 1 RBI, 1 walk
Ashton Horchem | 1 grand slam, 4 RBI, 1 hit by pitch, 1 stolen base

COUGAR PITCHING
Gus Lucas | 3.1 innings, 7 hits, 8 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Ian McGhiey | 0.2 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
Kyle Miller | 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts
Aiden Leemans | 1 inning, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Blake Norton | 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout

GAME TWO | ICC COUGARS 6, JOHN WOOD 5
The bats picked up where they left off for ICC, surging ahead to the tune of a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Cougars got a leadoff home run from Luke Doty, Noah Campbell and Tyler Bishop scoring on an error, as well as an RBI sacrifice fly from Kannon Kleine. 

John Wood would answer, albeit in stages, to score five unanswered runs between the fourth and sixth innings to go ahead 5-4 late. While the first game was to nine innings, this one would be to seven, meaning there were not many plate appearances to play with. 

ICC had that 5-4 deficit going into the bottom of the seventh, and by game's end, wouldn't have accumulated an out by the time they'd win it. Nick Piazza drew a leadoff walk, followed by another walk, this one from Doty, and that opened the door for Bryce Bishop, who took a first-pitch single into left field, scoring both Piazza and Doty for the 6-5 walkoff victory. 

COUGAR HITTING
Luke Doty | 1 single, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 1 walk
Bryce Bishop | 1 single, 2 RBI
Noah Campbell | 1 single, 1 stolen base
Tyler Bishop | 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch
Tyler Hansen | 3 walks
Ashton Horchem | 2 RBI, 1 hit by pitch, 1 stolen base
Griffin Roesch | 3 walks
Kannon Kleine | 1 RBI
Nick Piazza | 3 walks, 1 stolen base

COUGAR PITCHING
Gavin Thompson | 6 innings, 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Caleb Diver | 1 inning, 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ John Wood Blazers (DH)
Sunday, April 21st  - 12:00 / 3:00 PM
JWCC Baseball Field - Quincy, Ill.