The Heartland baseball team battled NJCAA-DII No. 20-ranked Parkland on Monday and Tuesday in a four-game set, defeating the Cobras in both contests at home on Monday before splitting two games on Tuesday at the Rantoul Family Sports Complex.
 
Game 1
The Hawks began the highly-anticipated series Monday with a 15-3 victory over the Cobras in five innings. Heartland's offense exploded in the opening frame of the contest, as the Hawks tallied 9 runs on 9 hits to open-up a major lead. Ben Hartl and Sam Antonacci each delivered long-balls in the inning. Jacyk Uehling and Daniel Mosele also added extra-base knocks. A Mark Kattula homer made it 10-0 in the second inning. Kattula would add a 2-RBI double in the third before a Hartl home run and a Uehling triple made it 15-1 through four frames. Meade Johnson pitched well for the home team, throwing five innings and allowing 3 runs on 3 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1.
 
Game 2
The second game of the day was a much closer affair, as the Hawks narrowly pulled away with a 3-2 win. Heartland got on the board first, as Matt Santarelli laced a single to right field to score Corey Boyette to make it 1-0. Antonacci would add a sacrifice fly in the third inning to score Hartl and give the Hawks a 2-0 advantage. Parkland responded with two runs of its own in the ensuing top-half of the fourth on a two-run home run to tie the contest at 2-2. The deciding run for the Hawks came in the fifth, as Hartl led the inning off with a single and then quickly stole second. Later in the inning, Bobby Atkinson hit a double to right field to score Hartl and make it 3-2 in favor of the home team. Despite a leadoff double for the Cobras in the seventh, Jake Jakubowski was able to close the door for the Hawks with three straight outs to secure the win.
 
Game 3
Game three was not so favorable for the Hawks, as this time it was the Cobras who came out hot on the offensive side to beat the visitors 9-3. Parkland would score twice in the second frame, three more times in the fourth and four more in the fifth to open-up a 9-0 advantage. Run-scoring knocks by Antonacci and Kattula narrowed the deficit to 9-2 in the fifth frame. A sacrifice fly by Uehling in the sixth accounted for the Hawks lone other run in the contest, as the Cobras snapped the Hawks' 15-game winning streak.
 
Game 4
Heartland flipped the switch in game two on Tuesday, compiling 13 hits in a 17-3 win over Parkland. The Hawks struck first in game two, as Uehling led-off the first frame with a double and later scored on an Antonacci single. Hartl, who was hit by a pitch prior to Antonacci's at-bat, also scored on an error to make it 2-0. Two doubles by the Cobras in the bottom-half of the frame tied the contest at 2-2 before the Hawks tacked-on 6 runs on 2 hits in the second frame to make it 8-2. Kattula and Boyette each contributed run-scoring hits in the inning. Mosele and Darian Crisp each homered in the game, as the Hawks scored in every inning en-route to the series-deciding win. Luke Wright got the win for the Hawks, tossing four innings and yielding 3 runs on 4 hits, while striking out 7.
 
Heartland (22-2, 7-1) returns to action for a four-game set with Lincoln Land Community College on Saturday and Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm both days. The Hawks will travel to Springfield for two games on Saturday before returning to The Corn Crib for two contests on Sunday.