CHANUTE, KS – This past weekend Iowa Western Baseball traveled to Chanute, Kansas to take on the Neosho County Community College Panthers.
Game one the Reiver bats started the series much like they did last weekend, scoring 5 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Four doubles, two singles, and a triple by Alec Patino helped Iowa Western take an early lead. Starting Pitcher Noah Bush shut down the Neosho Panthers in the bottom of the first, and 5 other pitchers contributed to keep the Reivers in the lead, winning the first game of the series, 9 to 6. Trenton Harris homered in the top of the 7th inning, and led the team with 3 RBI.
Much more of a pitcher's duel, Game two only saw one run scored the entire game. Brant Hogue, the starter for the Reivers, went 2 innings, striking out 3 and only giving up 1 hit. In total, the Iowa Western pitching staff combined to give up 3 hits and 1 run, which proved to be all that Neosho would need to secure the victory. Clay Cutter led the offense for the Reivers, getting 2 of the 6 total hits.
On Monday, game 3 begun right where the last game finished, a pitching dominated affair. The Reivers scratched one run across in the 1st inning on an Alec Patino groundout, scoring Dayvin Johnson who had hit a triple the at-bat before. That was the only run Iowa Western was able to produce, but starter Thomas Egan was able to hold the Panthers scoreless through 3 innings of work. In the 4th inning Neosho pushed across two runs and were able to hold on to the lead, winning 2 to 1. Dayvin Johnson had 3 hits on the day, and Dylan Robertson had 2.
The final game of the series was a much closer game than the final box score makes it appear. Ernie day got the start for the Reivers, with Daniel Wright (Pictured Above), Cooper Crompton, and Logan Runde following in relief. Iowa Western scored one run in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings but the Panthers responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the 5th. The Reiver bats came alive during the last two innings of the ballgame scoring 10 runs to put the game out of reach and secure the win 13 to 1. Dylan Robertson, Dayvin Johnson, and Noah Bush each had two hits apiece, with Marcus Heusohn leading the team with 3 hits on the day.
