Reivers Win 5 Games in 3 Days, Move to 43-5

The Iowa Western baseball team earned a weekend sweep of Marshalltown before traveling to Iowa Central where they won their final non-conference game of the season.

Marshalltown Series

In Game 1 of the series, the Reivers offense exploded for a 15-0 victory in 5 innings.  The Reivers combined for 10 hits and 12 free bases in the series opener.  Sophomore Breyden Eckhout (Amherst, NE) led the offense going 3-3 with 3 runs scored and an RBI.  Ryan Sullivan (SO, Auroa, CO) crushed his 3rd Homerun of the season with a 3-RBI drive to Left in the 2nd Inning.  Hagen Holmstead (SO, American Fork, UT) also added 2 hits going 2-4 with 3 RBIs and 3 Runs Scored.  Sophomore Indigo Diaz (Vancouver, BC, Can) moved to 8-0 on the season fanning 8 after giving up 2 base hits to start the game.

Game 2 saw more dominance from the Iowa Western Pitching Staff as Sophomore Ben Dotzler (Ida Grove, IA) went the distance in a 6-0 victory for the Reivers.  Dotzler K'd 11 on 72 pitches for his 4th victory of the 2018 season.  Offensively, Iowa Western tallied up 8 hits and 6 free bases.  Sophomore Tyler Reichenborn (Brooklyn Park, MN) went 1-2 with 2 BBs and 2 Runs Scored.  Isaiah Peterson (FR, Lincoln, NE) also went 1-2 with a 2B and a Run Scored.

In Game 3, the Iowa Western Pitching staff gave up its lone run of the weekend in the top of the 1st inning.  Sean Chandler (RS/SO, Bellevue, NE) settled in giving up 1 other hit and striking out 7 in the 11-1 Reiver victory.  Cole Evans (SO, Columbia, MO) lead the charge as he went 2-3 with an RBI and 2 Runs Scored.  Brandon Bena (SO, Omaha, NE) sent his 1st Homerun of the season over the left field wall for a solo shot while John Hawk (SO, McClelland, IA) 2 batters later sent his 1st Homerun out of the yard.  The offense racked up 11 hits and 6 free bases in the win.

The Reiver Pitching Staff locked up its 3rd shutout of the weekend with an 11-0 win in Game 4 cruising to a series and regular season sweep of Marshalltown.  Freshman Marius Balandis (Lockport, IL) grabbed his 6th win of the season spacing 3 hits across his 4 innings of work before handing the ball off to Sophomore Keaton Winn (Ollie, IA) for the final inning of the weekend.  The Reivers once again tallied up double digits hits with 13 in the final game of the weekend.  Freshman Mason Speirs (Westminster, CO) went 2-3 mashing his first career Homerun. Red-Shirt Freshman Gibson Krzeminski (Tecumseh, ONt, Can) and Red-Shirt Sophomore Trey Smith (Cypress, TX) both added their first career Homeruns.

Iowa Central

After the weekend sweep of Marshalltown, the Reivers travel to Fort Dodge, IA where the bats kept rolling as the Reivers run away with victory 18-2.  The offense combined 16 hits and and free passes in the game.  Sophomore Tanner Holen (Manhattan, KS) went 2-3 with a 2B and 3 Runs Scored.  Sophomore Kobe Hyland (Spruce Grove, ALB, Can) added 2 RBIs going 1-2.  On the mound, the Reiver Pitching Staff used 5 different pitchers to shut down the Iowa Central Hitters.  The Staff scattered 5 hits across the 7 innings striking out 6.  Red-Shirt Freshman Jayden Kruse (North Platte, NE) snagged his 5th win of the season.

The Reivers are back in action as they finish out the 2018 Regular Season with a 4-Game Series with Southwestern at Doc Ross Field Saturday April 5th and Sunday April 6th.  The DHs start at 2pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday.