East Peoria, IL - The Illinois Central College Baseball team (1-13) continued its homestand on Thursday by hosting the sixth-ranked Blackhawks from Southeastern Iowa (13-5) in a non-region game at Thome Field. Southeastern slowly chipped away, but ICC kept it within reach, leading 4-0 after six. However, it was a big seven-run top of the ninth by the visitors that gave them an 11-0 victory. The two will meet again in West Burlington next Tuesday.
#6 SOUTHEASTERN IOWA 11, ILLINOIS CENTRAL 0
The Cougar bats showed promise early, with a second-inning double from Blake Norton and a four-pitch walk from Elliot Seckman put two in scoring position with two outs, but both would be stranded.
Jayden Malone would double with one out in the fourth, but he too would be stranded.
ICC's defense stepped up in the fifth, when, after a Blackhawk had reached on an error, Parker Bellamy, Nate Bartman, and Blake Norton teamed up for a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.
Southeastern Iowa would take that 4-0 lead on a wild pitch in the sixth. With that, momentum was on their side, as singles from Bellamy (bottom seventh) and Ryan Brucker (bottom eighth) were the lone hits the rest of the way for the Cougars.
The dagger of a top of the ninth inning saw the Blackhawks score on an RBI triple, RBI groundout, wild pitch, and the final nail was a 2-0 grand slam to set the final score.
COUGAR STATISTICS
Hitting
Ryan Brucker (DH) | 1 single, 1 stolen base
Jayden Malone (RF) | 1 double, 1 stolen base
Blake Norton (1B) | 1 double, 1 walk
Elliot Seckman (LF) | 2 walks
Parker Bellamy (2B) | 1 single, 1 walk
Nate Bartman (SS) | 2 walks
Pitching
Spencer Timm (L; 0-2) | 4 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Wyatt Jacek | 3 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Caleb Diver | 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
Brett Granger | 0.1 innings, 2 hits, 4 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
Finn Heath | 0.2 innings, 2 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. D1 Community Christian Lions (0-7)
Friday, March 14th - 2:00 PM (DH)
at Thome Field - East Peoria, IL
Watch Live (AWRE TV)
Live Stats (GameChanger; "25 ICC Cougars Baseball")
