Dixon, IL - Weather is not usually the friend of outdoor spring sports teams, and it frankly hasn't been for the Illinois Central College Baseball team (6-14) the last couple days. Schedule alterations sent Coach Brett Kelley's squad up to Dixon to take on the Sauk Valley Skyhawks in a doubleheader on Tuesday. It was a pair of very competitive games, with ICC falling in walkoff fashion in the opener, 5-4, before the Cougars got some late-game heroics to pull away for a 4-1 victory in the finale.

GAME ONE | SAUK VALLEY 5, ILLINOIS CENTRAL 4
ICC had its offense in motion from the get-go, with Kaiden Lucero drawing a four-pitch walk to start the game, and he was followed by a single from Thomas Krueger. After a groundout, Blake Norton got a sacrifice fly deep enough out into center field for an RBI sacrifice fly to score Lucero and make it a 1-0 lead. 

Sauk Valley had a single, reached on an error, and an RBI single, but Cam Clifton and the Cougar defense limited the threat, with a strikeout and groundout ending the frame at a 1-1 tie. 

Nate Bartman started the top of the third with some fireworks, fending off a 2-2 pitch and launching a solo home run over the left field fence to take the lead back. Kyle Binder added on a few batters later with a big two-run double to score both Lucero and Krueger for a 4-1 lead after two and a half. 

It wasn't known in the moment, but the Cougars would not score a run the rest of the game. Sauk Valley made their big push in the fourth inning, with an RBI triple, RBI groundout, and an error bringing the game all the way back to tied, now at 4-4. 

ICC was unable to get into too many scoring position opportunities the rest of the game, and on a 1-0 count to start the bottom of the seventh, the Skyhawks walked it off on a solo home run for the one-run win. 

Cougar Hitting
Kaiden Lucero (CF) | 2 singles, 1 walk, 1 stolen base
Thomas Krueger (3B) | 1 single, 1 walk
Ryan Brucker (DH) | 1 walk
Blake Norton (1B) | 1 RBI
Kyle Binder (C) | 1 double, 2 RBI
Nate Bartman (SS) | 1 home run, 1 RBI, 1 hit by pitch

Cougar Pitching
Cam Clifton | 3.2 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
Logan Justus (L) | 2.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

GAME TWO | ILLINOIS CENTRAL 4, SAUK VALLEY 1
Perhaps worn down from the excitement of the opener, runs were a bit harder to come by at the start of this game. ICC did score in the top of the first on an RBI double from Ryan Brucker to score Kaiden Lucero for a 1-0 lead. 

Sauk Valley would tie it up, akin to their first game effort, with a solo home run, this one on a full count, making it 1-1 after three innings. 

Both offenses went quiet after that, with a combination of Spencer Timm and Broker Bailey keeping the Skyhawks on the scoreboard any further. 

ICC's big inning would eventually come in the seventh, when Thomas Krueger got an RBI single to score David Ripke, while Nate Bartman also scored on the throw. A Brucker single on the next at bat set the final margin. 

In the bottom of the seventh though, the cherry on top, as Nate Bartman turned an unassisted double play to end the game.

Cougar Hitting
Thomas Krueger (3B) | 1 single, 1 double, 2 RBI
Ryan Brucker (DH) | 1 single, 1 double, 2 RBI, 1 walk
Jake Stewart (LF) | 1 single
Connor Patton (RF) | 1 double
Nate Bartman (SS) | 1 single

Cougar Pitching
Spencer Timm | 4.2 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Broker Bailey (W) | 2.1 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ Lincoln Land Loggers
Saturday, March 22nd - 12:00 PM (DH)
at Claude Kracik Field - Springfield, IL
Live Stats (GameChanger; "25 ICC Cougars Baseball")