Evan Borst delivered and the eighth-ranked Iowa Central baseball team took a series from No. 7 Southeastern here Monday afternoon at Rogers Park.
Borst, a sophomore, drove in the winning run with a hit off the wall in left for a 9-8 victory. The Tritons (36-8 overall, 17-7 in ICCAC) took two of three from the Blackhawks after the teams split on Sunday.
Along with Borst recording three hits in the win, Quade Peters also had three hits, while Colten Becker, Joshua Blount, Teige Lethert and Josh Hatano each had two.
Blount and Lethert had a pair of RBI, while Becker drove in a run. Lethert had a triple on the day and Becker, Blount and Hatano each had a double, with Hatano scoring the winning run.
Josh Kirchhoff pitched the final two innings, securing his second win on the season with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
“This was a huge series, so to win it, that’s a great feeling,” ICCC head coach Eric Stein said. “They are a good team, so getting two wins against them at this point in the season is what you want to see from the guys.
“We have several capable players like Evan that can step up and put pressure on the other team. He’s always right there in the center of a lot of stuff with his ability to hit, pitch and play in the field.”
The Tritons got on the board first, plating three runs in the opening inning. Southeastern answered, though, with four in the second, but Iowa Central came roaring back with four more in the third to take a 7-4 lead.
Four runs by the Blackhawks in the sixth, seventh and eighth gave them back the lead over the Tritons, who again responded with a game-tying run in the eighth before the winning run in the ninth.
“Josh came up and got us outs when we really needed them,” Stein said. “We didn’t have our best, but we put forth effort to get the win.”
Iowa Central improved to 19-4 this season while playing at its new home, Rogers Park, after spending the past several years at Ed Barbour Field located on the school’s campus.
The Tritons host Iowa Lakes on Wednesday at 1 p.m. for a single contest before a weekend set at North Iowa Area beginning Saturday. They conclude the year at home on May 3 vs. Northeast for a doubleheader and at Ellsworth on May 6 for two.