Iowa Western Baseball Begins Conference Play

OMAHA, NE – On Thursday, the Iowa Western Baseball team began conference play against the Northeast Community College Hawks in the first of three midweek matchups this spring. The scoring started early with each team putting up one run in the 1^st inning, Blake Stenger scoring on a Carter Wright Sac Fly for the Reivers. That would be the only run that Northeast would be able to plate as Adam Stanton shut down their offense, only allowing 2 hits over the next 4 innings. Iowa Western's offense on the other hand kept scoring, totaling 11 runs in the 7-inning run rule victory. Dylan Robertson and Auggie Rasmussen both had 3 hit games. Robertson and Alec Patino led with 4 RBI a piece. Daniel Wright and Noah Bush each threw a hitless relief inning to finish off Stanton's win-earning effort.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Sunday and Monday the Reivers took on Kirkwood Community College. Game one was a pitcher's duel, with only 4 hits total, 2 for each team. Brant Hogue took the mound for Iowa Western, throwing 5 scoreless frames only surrendering 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 9 Eagles batters. Evan O'Toole relieved Hogue, pitching a 1 hit 6^th inning and faced 1 batter in the bottom of the 7^th inning who homered to end the game. Blake Stenger and Dylan Robertson had the two hits for the Reivers.

The second game Sunday was a complete switch for both teams. Iowa Western wasted no time, scoring 3 runs in the top of the first inning on doubles from Carter Wright and Jacob Gish as well as an RBI single from Dylan Robertson. Kirkwood answered with 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the inning. The Reivers pulled away with a 7 run 4^th inning, Andrew Schroeder started the offense with a Sac Fly scoring Tye Wood. Dayvin Johnson followed with a Grand Slam, an RBI single from Robertson and RBI triple from Wood capped off the inning. The Eagles did their best to stick around, scoring 3 runs in each of the 7^th and 8^th innings but 2 more runs from the Reivers in the 8^th and 9^th held off their comeback. The Reivers won 12-10, Ernie Day was the winning pitcher. Braden Berry threw 3 scoreless innings in relief and Noah Bush earned the save.

The final game of the series was a one-sided affair, Iowa Western scored 8 runs in the 1^st inning and 2 more in the 2^nd. Kirkwood scratched across one of their own in the 4^th but the Reivers responded with 2 more in the next inning. Thomas Egan and Cooper Crompton kept the Eagles to 4 hits and 1 run throwing 4 and 3 innings respectively while striking out 5 each. Carter Wright and Alec Patino led the offense, each collecting 3 hits, including a double from Wright and a homerun for Patino.

Iowa Western begins a homestand this week facing Southwestern mid-week, and Southeastern this weekend. Follow @ReiverBaseball on Twitter and @iowawesternbaseball on Instagram to stay up to date on schedule changes and follow along during games.