Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4
    Over the weekend, Heartland Community College hosted Danville Area Community College for a four-game conference series filled with major rain, wind, and plenty of action at the plate. With the uncertainty of the weather, the Hawks housed all four games throughout a three-day series. On offense, the Hawks were able to accumulate 43 hits and 45 runs.

    On Friday, March 6th, the Jaguars started things off first with a homerun to put the team up 2-0. The Hawks answered back in the 1st and 2nd inning with a sac fly and a two-run homer by sophomore Tyler Pippen, putting the team up 3-2 and keeping the lead for the rest of the nine innings. The bats kept rolling till the end as the offense accumulated 12 hits and 11 runs. TJ Jakubowski led the charge with three hits in five at-bats with two runs. He also added an RBI from his solo homerun in the bottom of the 8th. Leftfielder, Chase Peterson, added on three hits as well with three runs, one homerun, and three RBIs. Dylan Nagle took the win for the Hawks on the mound with four innings pitched, only allowing eight hits and four runs with two strikeouts through 19 batters. Sophomore Tyler Ledvina came in to close for five innings without letting up a run, with one free base allowed and six batters sat. Heartland took game one 11-4, and their evening was cut short in game two as a storm rolled through Normal, IL.

    The following Sunday, Danville Area took the trip back to the Corn Crib to play a doubleheader of seven-inning games during the windy afternoon. In the first game of the afternoon, Danville jumped back on top first and stayed up till the fifth inning. Once again, Jakubowski's bat was hot with two hits through four at-bats with a three-run home run to take the lead back. Adding fuel to the fire in a big way was Chase Peterson, as he found the barrel once again with the first grand slam of the season. Pippen, Jake Troyner, Dom Kooistra, Jimmy Anderson, and Bennett Summers each had one hit apiece. The Hawks ended with eight hits and 11 runs through 26 at-bats. On the mound, Trevor Rehnstrom threw a complete game, facing 25 batters through seven innings. The sophomore allowed four runs on five hits with only one walk allowed, with eight total strikeouts. Hawks landed on top once again with an 11-4 win over the Jaguars.
    For the final seven-inning game of the series, Heartland stepped on the gas and ended things through five. Through 26 at-bats, the Hawks added on 14 runs from 12 hits. The designated hitter, Kooistra, went 3-for-3 with three doubles and three runs to end the day. Kasey Griffin opened things off on the mound and took the win for the pitching staff with a follow-up from Casey Giemzik. Through five innings, the Hawk gave up four hits and two runs with only one walk and six strikeouts. The Hawks ran away with the game, winning 14-2, taking the first three games of the series.

    Finishing out game four, Danville traveled to the Corn Crib once again for a final nine-inning game to close out the first conference series of the season. The Hawks were unable to make anything happen at the plate until Pippen created a spark at the top of the third with a triple and eventually a run to get the offense started. The Jaguars were able to add on four total runs and were leading until the seventh inning. Jakubowski and Anderson added back-to-back home runs in the sixth to cut the lead to 3-4. In the last three innings, the Hawks added on eight more runs to take the win over DACC. Starting on the mound was freshman Andy Antonacci, who threw 1.1 innings, with Ryan Anderson coming in as the "middleman" and throwing 4 innings. The right-handed sophomore added four strikeouts and only two walks on the day. Closing for the Hawks and earning the win was left-handed pitcher Jake Gimbel, who threw 3.2 innings, only allowing one hit and no runs. The sophomore faced 11 batters in his outing and sat down seven hitters. The Hawks ended the series with a 9-4 win and 4-0 sweep, improving their record to 9-5 on the season.

    Heartland is set to come back to the Corn Crib tomorrow, where they will face Bryant and Stratton Community College for a nine-inning single-game matchup.