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Box Score 4 The Hawks wrapped up regular season play this weekend with their final MWAC series against Lewis and Clark Community College. Sweeping the Trailblazers, the Hawks brought home their eighth straight MWAC series sweep and for the first time in program history, finish MWAC play with a perfect 32-0 record.
The Hawks entered the series ranked No. 6 in the NJCAA polls while sitting at an overall record of 41-8. The Trailblazers entered the series sitting in fourth of the conference rankings with a record of 19-25-1 (14-13-1).
The Hawks did not trail a single inning all weekend. In game one, freshman
Bobby Atkinson led the offense. Atkinson went 4 for 4 with three doubles and five RBIs. Sophomore
Jeremy Figueroa smashed his tenth homerun of the season in the game, while adding four runs scored.
Game one starter,
Reese Dutton, threw five innings for the Hawks allowing just one run on three hits. Dutton, who has thrown the most innings for the Hawks all season, struck out five as he improved to a perfect 8-0. Fellow sophomore
Connor Best would come in relief and throw a scoreless inning to seal the 11-1 win in game one for the Hawks.
In game two, the offense was led by freshman
Sam Antonacci. Antonacci picked up a pair of hits and brought in three runs. Atkinson added two more hits and two more RBIs in game two.
Earning his eighth win on the mound was freshman,
Jason Buhl. Buhl allowed just one hit and one run in five innings pitched for the Hawks. Throwing the final two innings of the game was sophomore
Mitchel Sampson. Sampson allowed just one run as he helped bring home a 10-2 win in game two.
The Hawks would travel to Godfrey, IL for the second half of the series and final double-header of the regular season. The Hawks' offense would pick up right where it left off scoring 15 runs in five innings. Sophomore
Riley Rundquist would hit his fourth homerun of the season while driving in four.
Sean Shook and Antonacci would also hit homeruns while driving in three and two, respectively.
Freshman
Meade Johnson earned his fifth win on the mound, improving to a perfect 5-0 on the season. Johnson allowed just two hits as he threw three scoreless innings for the Hawks. Sophomore
Connor Aten threw two scoreless innings in relief as the Hawks brought home the 15-0 win in game three.
In the final game of the weekend and regular season the Hawks would use ten hits from the offense and six more scoreless innings from the pitching to bring home an 11-0 win. Sophomore,
Braden Zenor led the offense, going 4 for 4 with a homerun and three runs scored.
Tyler Brandenburg also cranked a homerun while driving in three runs.
Teague Conrad earned the win as he allowed just three hits over five scoreless innings. Conrad picked up his fifth win of the season in the game.
Kieran Schmitz threw the final inning, clinching the win and series sweep for the Hawks.
Through 32 conference games this season, the Hawks will have outscored opponents 359-97. The Hawks end their regular season with an overall record of 45-8. The Hawks will also finish the regular season as outright MWAC Champions and the first team in program histroy with a perfect conference record.
The Hawks will now prepare for the Region 24 Tournament which will be played at The Corn Crib from the 18th - 21st. The Hawks have earned the top seed for the tournament and a bye on the first day of play. The Hawks will play their first tournament game at 10 AM on the 19th against the winner of the Vincennes and Danville.
For all things Hawks Baseball follow along on Twitter (@HCC_Hawks), Instagram (@heartlandccbaseball), and Facebook (Heartland Community College Athletics).
