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Box Score 4 The Hawks swept their seventh straight conference series and improved to a perfect 28-0 in MWAC play this weekend with four wins over Lincoln Land. With the wins, the Hawks have now clinched an outright MWAC regular season title.
The Hawks entered the series ranked No. 12 in the NJCAA polls with an overall record of 33-8 while the Loggers entered the series ranked No. 6 with an overall record of 30-9.
In game one, the Hawks would take an early lead and never look back. Sophomore
Bryce Brown had a monster game at the plate racking up four doubles along with three runs scored and two RBIs.
Ben Hartl notched three hits in the game, including a homerun, while chipping in three runs and an RBI.
Bobby Atkinson also added a homerun and three RBIs.
Hawks ace,
Reese Dutton, led the defense with a dominant performance on the mound. Dutton threw all eight innings in the game and did not allow an earned run. The sophomore gave up just five hits while striking out ten as he earned the complete game win. Dutton would improve to a perfect 7-0 on the season as the Hawks took home a 9-1 win in game one.
In game two, the Hawks would shut out the Loggers in five innings to take home a 10-0 win. The Hawks' offense in game two would be led by Atkinson who picked up three more hits, including his second homerun of the day, along with four more RBIs. Also having a big game at the plate was sophomore
Braden Zenor. Zenor chipped in three hits, including his first homerun of the season, while adding three RBIs and a run.
Game two starter,
Jason Buhl, threw all five innings for the Hawks. Buhl allowed just one hit over his five innings of scoreless work. Buhl fanned seven as he also improved to a perfect 7-0 on the season.
The Hawks would travel to Springfield on Monday for the second half of the series. In game three of the series, the Hawks would find themselves trailing by three headed to the fifth inning. However, a nine-run fifth inning would put the Hawks on top as they would eventually bring home the 12-6 win. The win would secure an outright conference title for the Hawks.
Sophomore,
Jeremy Figueroa would lead the offense in the game as he would pick up three hits, two of which were homeruns, along with three RBIs and four runs scored.
Sam Antonacci also drove in three runs on two hits while
Riley Rundquist cranked a two-run homerun that would give the Hawks the lead in the fifth.
Sophomore,
Mitchel Sampson earned the win on the mound. Sampson, coming out of the bullpen, threw four innings for the Hawks. Sampson would allow just two runs on a single hit, while fanning seven. Sampson earned his second win of the season in the game.
In the final game of the series, the Hawks would once again find themselves trailing headed to the fifth inning. The Hawks' offense would explode for a 13-run fifth inning to end the final game of the series in five innings and bring home the series sweep with a 13-3 win.
Getting the scoring going for the Hawks was Figueroa, who would blast a grand slam for his third homerun of the day. Hartl also cranked a homerun, his second of the series. Five different Hawks tallied a pair of hits in the game.
Starter,
Teague Conrad thew all five innings for the Hawks. Conrad would allow just two earned runs on five hits. The sophomore struck out seven as he earned his fifth win of the season.
Now through 28 conference games, the Hawks have outscored opponents 312-94 and are averaging over 11 runs a game. The Hawks' final MWAC match-up will be against Lewis and Clark.
The Hawks, who are now ranked 8th in the NJCAA DII polls and sit at a record of 37-8, continue play today with a 9-inning match-up against Triton College. The Hawks will also complete a previously postponed game with the Trojans. The Hawks will travel to Kankakee tomorrow for another 9-inning non-conference contest with the No. 16 ranked Cavaliers.
The Hawks will wrap-up regular season play next weekend with their final MWAC series against the Trailblazers of Lewis and Clark. The Hawks will host the first half of the series on Friday (5/13) at 1 and 3 PM. Games can be streamed
HERE. The second half of the series and final regular season double-header will be played on Saturday (5/14) at 1 and 3 PM in Godfrey.
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