NO. 15 NORTHEAST SNAPS NO. 7 IOWA WESTERN’S 18-GAME WIN STREAK

NORFOLK, Neb. – The No. 15 Northeast Community College baseball team was back at home Tuesday for another ICCAC matchup against the NJCAA Division I No. 7 Iowa Western Community College Reivers. The Reivers and Hawks split the two games as the Reivers came out on top by a final score of 15-4 in Game 1 and the Hawks rallied to take an 11-8 victory in Game 2 at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Baseball Field in Norfolk.

The Hawks (33-9, 13-7 ICCAC) struggled to string enough hits together in Game 1 to hang with the Reivers, but Game 2 told a completely different story. Starter Gage Ingram (LaVista, Neb.) and reliver Creighton Silvain (Omaha, Neb.) did just enough for the Hawks to stay in the ballgame which allowed Matt Dreher (Blair, Neb.) to come in and shut the door on the Reivers in the ninth for the Hawks to take the victory.

Blaine Guthrie (Emerald, Wis.) blasted his second home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning to give the Hawks a quick 3-0 lead. A RBI from Maxim Fullerton (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and another from Taylor Gill (Orem, Utah) extended the Hawks lead to 5-1. The Reivers would rally back to tie the game at six but Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo.) stole home while Connor Jeffers (Aubrey, Texas) was at the plate to give the Hawks the lead in the fifth. Fullerton would deliver again in the seventh as the two RBIs he added were enough to allow the Hawks to break the 18-game winning streak that the Reivers carried into the contest.

STAT SHEET GAME 1

Taylor Gill (Orem, Utah): 2-2, RBI, R, BB

Parker Dorrance (Arvada, Colo.): 2-3, 2 RBI, R

STAT SHEET GAME 2

Parker Dorrance (Arvada, Colo.): 3-4, 2 R, BB

Maxim Fullerton (Steamboat Springs, Colo.): 2-5, 3 RBI, R

Kaden Young (Columbus, Neb.): 2-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R

Blaine Guthrie (Emerald, Wis.): 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH

Head baseball coach Marcus Clapp's overall thoughts on today's games:

"That was obviously a big win against a really good team," Clapp said. "I thought Game 1 we got away from who were. I felt like we weren't on time, we were late and some things happened early. Between games we talked and it's like, 'Guys, do what we talk about and get your foot down and hunt fastballs.' This game is funny. You don't know what's going to happen. You don't know the outcome. You don't know the wind. You don't know what outside effects are going to cause. That's something that we again have to stay within us and be who we are capable of. It's just a big win. We needed that for our confidence, but we also just needed that for where we are."

Who stood out today on the field from Clapp's perspective?

"I thought Creighton (Silvain) came in those last three innings that he threw and kept them in check," Clapp said. "Gage (Ingram) threw well and all of the sudden five hits later there's a five spot. Creighton came in and kept them in check and we were able to keep our bats going and get that big knock to get a three-run lead. Again, when we stay with our approach and do our things and our pitchers are doing what they are capable of doing we can play with anybody."

What adjustments does Clapp want from his team's previous matchups with Iowa Central?

"From the last matchup, we have to pitch better," Clapp said. "If you score 15 runs and lose it's tough. I hope guys realize offensively we have to keep working on just handling the fastball, but more importantly we have to throw strikes and pitch and play defense and give ourselves a chance."

UP NEXT

The Hawks will be back in action shortly against Iowa Central Community College. The single game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

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