East Peoria, IL - The Illinois Central College Baseball team (10-26, 5-11) had a quality day at the plate yesterday in Canton, so when it was another matchup against the Spoon River Snappers (11-22, 5-15), now at Thome Field, the Cougars were certainly looking to maintain the momentum they had from those offensive performances. The opening game was a bit of a slow burn, but a late barrage gave the Cougars a 12-2 run-rule win. In the finale, an early lead turned into big insurance runs late for an 8-0 victory. The pair of wins gives ICC its first MWAC series win, going (3-1) against the Snappers. 

GAME ONE | ILLINOIS CENTRAL 12, SPOON RIVER 2 (5 INN.)
Spoon River would hit the scoreboard in the top of the first on an error, but then neither team would score until the third. 

In that third, it was the Cougars' turn, with a double from Ryan Brucker scoring Thomas Krueger on the throw. After a Jayden Malone walk and Chris Casey hit by pitch, Kyle Binder drew the bases-loaded walk to take a 2-1 lead. A pop out would end the inning and, for the interim, prevent a Cougar unfurling of the run column. 

The Snappers tied it back up in the fourth on an RBI single, but ICC responded right away in the bottom half of the inning, getting an RBI triple from Krueger and Krueger scoring on an error that Brucker reached on, creating a 4-2 margin. 

Entering the bottom of the fifth, the two-run lead definitely had made for a competitive game. Until it wasn't. In that half of the inning, the Cougars got a bases-loaded RBI walk from Elliot Seckman, a bases-loaded RBI hit by pitch from Nate Bartman, a bases-loaded RBI walk from Krueger, Seckman scoring on a fielder's choice, Bartman scoring on an error, Binder drawing a bases-loaded RBI walk, Malone scoring on a wild pitch, and the final nail in the run rule shortened game was an RBI walkoff single from Jake Stewart to set the 12-2 final score. 

COUGAR HITTING
Thomas Krueger (3B) | 1 single, 1 triple, 2 RBI, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch
Ryan Brucker (2B) | 1 double, 2 RBI
Jayden Malone (RF) | 1 walk
Kyle Binder (C) | 1 single, 2 RBI, 2 walks
Jake Stewart (1B) | 2 singles, 2 RBI, 1 walk, 1 stolen base
Elliot Seckman (LF) | 1 single, 1 RBI, 1 walk
Nate Bartman (SS) | 1 RBI, 1 hit by pitch
Chris Casey (DH) | 2 hit by pitches 

COUGAR PITCHING
Blake Norton (W) | 5 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts

GAME TWO | ILLINOIS CENTRAL 8, SPOON RIVER 0
An RBI single from Chris Casey gave ICC an early 1-0 lead in the first. Before Thomas Krueger could truly get into his at-bat, Elliot Seckman (who'd walked earlier in the inning) scored on a wild pitch, and was soon followed by Nate Bartman scoring on an error that Krueger also reached on for a 3-0 lead after two innings. 

From there, however, a mid-game pitchers duel broke out, with Mason Lynch holding up the Cougar end of the bargain. Three of Lynch's innings would be hitless, and two of those three would have the Snappers going down 1-2-3. 

The duel would come to an end in the sixth inning, and in favor of ICC at that. Ethan Krutke reached on an error that scored Casey, Jake Stewart scored on a passed ball, Bartman reaches on an error that Krutke also scores on, and capping off a five-run 10-batter bottom of the sixth to set the final margin. 

Spoon River would get a base runner on an error in the top of the seventh, but a pair of Lynch strikeouts helped shut the door and give the Cougars the game and the series win. 

COUGAR HITTING
Kaiden Lucero (CF) | 1 single, 1 double, 1 walk, 1 stolen base
Thomas Krueger (3B) | 1 triple, 1 RBI
Ryan Brucker (2B) | 2 walks
Chris Casey (DH) | 1 single, 1 RBI
Jake Stewart (1B) | 1 walk
Elliot Seckman (LF) | 1 walk
Nate Bartman (SS) | 1 single

COUGAR PITCHING
Mason Lynch (W) | 7 innings, 5 hits, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. Danville Area Jaguars (6-22, 5-13)
Saturday, April 12th - 1:00 PM (DH)
at Thome Field - East Peoria, Illinois
Watch Live (AWRE TV)
Live Stats (GameChanger; "25 ICC Cougars Baseball")