East Peoria, IL - There was some uncertainty in the air with the weather in Central Illinois on Thursday, but conditions would favor the Illinois Central College Baseball team (6-21) being able to host the Harper Hawks (6-11) in a doubleheader makeup from mid-February. Neither team was lacking at the plate, but the Hawks brought just a bit more in a doubleheader sweep of the Cougars by nearly identical final scores of 11-6 and 11-7. 

GAME ONE | HARPER 11, ILLINOIS CENTRAL 6
Harper roared out to a 4-0 start in this one, but the Cougars cut it to two on a singular swing, when Jayden Malone took the first pitch of his fourth inning at bat over the left field fence, scoring Ryan Brucker (who'd singled the plate appearance prior) and making it a 4-2 game. 

The Hawks went back up four runs in the fifth on a two-run double. ICC put another run on the board to get it to a three-run game (6-3). In the top of the seventh, however, Harper unloaded. It went from a three-run game to a five-run unfurling of the run column and a 11-3 Hawks lead with ICC on its last chance in the bottom of the seventh. 

The Cougars would not go down without a fight. In fact, the bottom of the seventh would be their largest offensive output of the game. Aidan Fulton was hit by a pitch on the first pitch of the inning, and ICC was able to capitalize, primarily using good plate discipline to get there. Thomas Krueger and Brucker drew consecutive walks to load the bases. ICC scored three runs on that, as odds to score certainly were tilting their direction. However, it was far from conventionally that it happened. Malone, Kyle Binder, and Jake Stewart all drew consecutive bases-loaded RBI walks to set the final margin, all happening with no outs in the inning, but an infield fly and a pair of pop outs would follow to end the game. 

COUGAR HITTING
Aidan Fulton (CF) | 1 single, 1 hit by pitch
Thomas Krueger (SS) | 2 walks, 2 stolen bases
Ryan Brucker (DH) | 2 singles, 1 walk
Jayden Malone (RF) | 1 home run, 3 RBI, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch
Kyle Binder (C) | 1 RBI, 2 walks
Jake Stewart (1B) | 1 RBI, 1 walk
Parker Bellamy (3B) | 1 walk
Kaiden Lucero (LF) | 1 walk
Jace Easley (2B) | 1 hit by pitch

COUGAR PITCHING
Spencer Timm (L) | 4 innings, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Billy Mini | 1 inning, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
Eli Wang | 1 inning, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
Logan Justus | 1 inning, 4 hits, 4 earned runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts

GAME TWO | HARPER 11, ILLINOIS CENTRAL 7
The final game of the day saw a large portion of its runs scored in the front half of the game, but it was Harper that was first to the scoreboard with a three-run top of the first. Alas, ICC countered, and frankly, just as quickly, with Connor Patton and Thomas Krueger both getting singles. With still nobody out, and after Patton scored on a wild pitch, Chris Casey launched a home run to tie the game at three apiece. 

Although it's normally said in a basketball game that it was a 'game of runs', one could say that about this game as well. Harper would go on another 'run', scoring four more runs in the top of the third and three more in the top of the fourth. The Cougars did make a dent in the margin when Patton tallied an RBI groundout to tie the game at seven back in the third, but again, that three-run fourth followed, and Harper never looked back. 

The Hawks would tack on an insurance run in the top of the sixth, and the Cougars were unable to find the run column after that RBI groundout.  

COUGAR HITTING
Connor Patton (CF) | 1 single, 1 RBI, 1 walk
Thomas Krueger (SS) | 1 single, 1 double, 2 RBI, 3 stolen bases
Chris Casey (LF) | 1 home run, 2 RBI
Tate Hall (DH) | 2 walks
Ryan Brucker | 1 single
Jake Stewart (3B) | 2 singles, 1 RBI
Jace Easley (2B) | 1 single, 1 stolen base
Elliot Seckman (RF) | 1 walk

COUGAR PITCHING
Cam Clifton | 3 innings, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Finn Heath (L) | 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
Wyatt Jacek | 1 inning, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts
Caleb Diver | 1 inning, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
Tyler Sabodor | 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Vincennes Trailblazers (12-16, 3-9)
Friday, March 28th - 1:00 PM (DH)
at Thome Field - East Peoria, Illinois
Watch Live (AWRE TV)
Live Stats (GameChanger; "25 ICC Cougars Baseball")