NORMAL, Ill. - The Hawks played host to the South Suburban College Bulldogs Tuesday afternoon at the Corn Crib in a non-conference interregional contest. Semester transfer Shane Gorman got his fourth start of the season and recorded his second win to improve his record to 2-2 on the year. However, Heartland Pitching Coach Chris Razo would utilize a number of his staff throughout the game. Gorman threw only 2.0 innings, allowing only one hit, before six other pitchers would be used in the game, each pitching 1.0 innings. 

After coming off of two walk-off wins over the weekend against Spoon River College, the Hawks wanted to get a large lead early to ensure a walk-off wasn't needed three games in a row. 

Peyton Dillingham got the Hawks started in the bottom of the first inning with a double to left field, scoring fellow Normal West High School alum Jake Marti and sophomore Sam Olson to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. A batter later, Shakur Jackson added another run for the Hawks with an RBI double that scored Dillingham from second base, bringing up the designated hitter, Josh Stivers. Stivers, too, recorded an RBI double that scored Jackson from second base. An error by South Suburban's Giovanni Lopez advanced Stivers to third base to bring up center fielder Matt Barnes with one out and a runner in scoring position. Barnes took advantage of the opportunity and recorded an RBI with a ground-out to the shortstop that scored Stivers from third base. After recording three extra-base hits in the first inning, the Hawks were off to a quick 5-0 lead on the Bulldogs. 

In the second inning, sophomore Miles Simington (Purdue University commit) brought the Hawks' lead to six with his own RBI double that brought Austin Cain across the plate. That would be the last run scored in the game until the sixth inning when South Suburban's Daniel Cryan singled to left field, scoring Logan Anderson to bring the score to 6-1 after six innings of play. 

An inning later, Peyton Dillingham would score his second run of the game on a wild pitch by Marcus Seguin, giving the Hawks another six run lead going into the eighth inning. It was in the eighth that the Bulldogs would add two runs on a two-run homerun by Giovanni Lopez, bringing the score to 7-3 going into the bottom half of the inning. Sam Olson posted his third hit of the game, a season high, in the bottom of the eighth inning on a double to left center field, scoring Austin Cain and Jake Zylman. A batter later, Jake Marti would record his second homerun of the season with a two-run shot to bring the final score to 11-3. 

The Hawks return home on Friday, April 12th at 3:00 PM for a conference doubleheader against Lincoln Land Community College. You can catch the live stream of all baseball games this season by clicking here, and follow along with live stats by clicking here.