Heartland baseball returned home following its Florida spring break trip, as the Hawks began conference play with a four-game sweep over Lewis & Clark Community College on Monday and Tuesday. The Hawks followed that with a 14-4 home victory over College of Lake County on Thursday to improve to 19-1 overall on the season.
 
Game 1
The Hawks began Midwest Athletic Conference play with a 17-0 home victory on Monday over visiting Lewis & Clark. Heartland began its scoring with a tally in the second inning off of a Gallien Coupet single up the middle to score TJ Williams to make it 1-0. Williams led the charge for the Hawks, finishing going 3-3 from the plate with 3 runs and 3 RBIs. A 10-run third inning for the Hawks pushed the advantage to 11-0, and the home team never looked back. Heartland would add 6 more runs in the fourth frame to secure the 17-0 victory. Meade Johnson received the win on the bump, tossing 3 innings while allowing no hits and striking out 4.
 
Game 2
Game two was a closely-contested game until the fifth inning, as the Hawks scored nine runs to take home a 12-2 win. The Trailblazers jumped out in front first with two runs in the opening inning before Heartland responded with two tallies of their own to tie the contest at 2-2. After three scoreless frames by both sides, the Hawks offense ignited once again with nine runs on five hits in the fifth inning. Corey Boyette and Ben Hartl both delivered bases-clearing extra base knocks with the bases loaded in the frame. The Hawks would add one more run in the sixth in the win.
 
Game 3
On Tuesday, Heartland traveled to Godfrey, Ill. to face-off with Lewis & Clark once again for the final two games of the series. The Hawks jumped out in front first, as Jacyk Uehling scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. Williams and Matt Santarelli supplied hits in the second frame as the Hawks added two more runs to make it 3-0. After Lewis & Clark scored a run in the bottom half of the second, the Hawks extended their lead with 6 runs on 6 hits in the third inning to give them a 9-1 lead. Heartland would add 3 more runs in the sixth, with Hartl, Boyette, Williams and Bobby Atkinson all contributing multi-hit performances.
 
Game 4
In the final game of the series, the offense of the Hawks again carried them to a 22-3 win over the Trailblazers to secure the sweep to open conference play. 10 Heartland players contributed a hit in the contest, with Hartl, Boyette, Sam Antonacci, Nate Cooley and Daniel Mosele all finishing with multi-hit performances. Jason Buhl got the win in the series finale, yielding 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 4 in 3 innings pitched.
 
Game 5
Heartland returned home for a non-conference matchup with a tough College of Lake County squad on Thursday. After trailing early, the Hawks used another big inning to beat the Lancers 14-4. The Lancers would get on the board first, as they scored three runs in the second frame to take an early 3-0 lead. Gallien Coupet scored for the Hawks in the bottom half after reaching on a bunt single, and later scoring on a passed ball. After College of Lake County added a score to its tally in the top-half of the third, the Hawks scored twice in the same frame and two more runs in the fourth to make it 5-4 in favor of the Hawks. A five-run fifth frame extended the Heartland lead even further. Antonacci started the scoring with a solo shot to right field. Darian Crisp also added a homer in the inning, as he laced a three-run bomb to right field. Heartland would ultimately add four more runs in the sixth inning to improve to 19-1 overall on the season. Abram Wills received the victory for the Hawks in relief, throwing 2 innings and allowing just 1 hit while striking out 2.
 
Heartland will return to action at 12 pm on Sunday, as the Hawks travel to Rantoul Sports Complex to battle with Parkland College in a doubleheader.