Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4
    Heartland Baseball participated in another weekend of conference play against the Vincennes University Trailblazers. The Hawks swept the conference, hosting and winning all four competitions on April 10th and 11th. The defense was difficult to get through as the pitching staff had strong performances, collecting 25 strikeouts and four walks through 24 innings pitched. The offense was just relentless, collecting 46 runs and 41 hits with seven home runs.

    Game one was a strong performance on the field and at the plate as Heartland took the first match-up 11-1.

    Trevor Rehnstrom was dealing on the bump as he shut down the Trailblazers offense. The right-handed sophomore went through the five innings with ease, only allowing four hits and one run, giving up one free base and sitting down seven batters.
    Leading the defense with a strong bat was the left fielder, Dom Kooistra, who couldn't have hit any better through his three at-bats. The lefty went yard in back-to-back at-bats and walked in his final plate appearance.  

    Game Two was no different as the Hawks stayed consistent, scoring 11 runs. The three-hole hitter, Jimmy Anderson, was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a homerun, a hit by pitch to reach base in his final at-bat, three RBI's, and scoring four runs for the Hawks. Batting right after Anderson, TJ Jakubowski had a day with four hits through four at-bats. The third basemen had two doubles and a stolen base across the seven innings.
    On the mound for all seven innings for the Hawks was sophomore pitcher Dylan Nagle. Through 32 batters, the Hawk struck out eight batters and only allowed one free base. The right-hander gave up nine hits and four earned runs. The Hawks ended up taking both game days with an 11-5 win over the Trailblazers.

    The Heartland Hawks finished their series with the Vincennes Trailblazers at the Corn Crib the following day, winning both of their games.

    The offense led the game with 11 runs, and Jake Gimbel pitched for the Hawks the entire game and only allowed the Trailblazers two runs. He started off with a quick top of the second inning, striking out three in a row. Through the 26 batters faced, the sophomore left game one without walking a batter and striking out four.

    Bennett Summers started off with a double, followed by Jake Parpet hitting the home run, giving the Hawks a 2-0 start. Jake Gimbel continued the momentum into the top of the 3rd without allowing a run on base. Kooistra had a strong presence in the game and was able to get to 3rd base after an attempted pickoff was dropped at first. This was capitalized on by Jimmy Anderson, who hit the home run shortly after. The Hawks' lead continued with TJ Jakubowski, Bennett Summers, and Daniel Bastidas scoring in the bottom of the 5th. Bastidas led at the plate with two hits through four at-bats. Driving in three runs and scoring two.
    Hawks finished another game with 11 runs, outscoring the Trailblazers compared to their 2.

    The final game of the series, after clinching the conference series, was a hit fest for the Hawks in the final half-inning of the game.

    Tyler Ledvina started things off on the mound for the Hawks with 1.2 innings pitched, allowing three runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Following his performance was pitcher Ryan Anderson with three innings, facing a total of 13 batters. The sophomore only allowed a single hit and no runs with four strikeouts and one free base.
    Parpet and Cole Yates each performed at the plate with two hits apiece. To end the game in a run-rule, the bats got hot for an eight-run inning. The lineup scored 13 runs on 11 hits through 22 batters to end the game and series with a win 13-3.

    Heartland Baseball ended the weekend with four wins to improve their record to 24-13 and their conference record to 15-5. With a Sunday rest, the Hawks pick things back up on Monday, when they will travel to Mattoon, IL, to face Lake Land College for a nine-inning game.