Centerville -- A bases-loaded walk to Lane Harvey plated the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning and allowed Indian Hills to make it a clean sweep in the Falcons' conference series with visiting Marshalltown CC. The Falcons won both games on Saturday, 7-1 and 5-2, and mirrored those results by taking Sunday's contests, 7-2 and 9-8.
The extra-inning victory was especially gratifying since the Falcons trailed 8-4 heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. A bases-clearing double by Harvey and an RBI triple from Will Zimmerman enabled IHCC to tie the score at 8-all. After eventual winning pitcher Caleb Miley retired the Tigers in the top of 8th, the stage was set for Indian Hills comeback, their 20th win of the season and 5th in eight league games.
IHCC's starting pitching was outstanding in the first three games of the series, and along with some timely hitting that propelled the hosts to the first three victories. Jacob Thiessen fashioned a complete-game seven-hitter in game one with no walks and seven Ks. Oracio DeLeon followed with six innings of seven-hit pitching in the second contest. And Jared Spearing made it three straight strong starts, permitting only five hits and fanning six in his six-inning stint in the first game on Sunday.
In the opening game Saturday, the top seven hitters in the IHCC lineup each had one hit. They were all singles except for a Dillon Nelson double. Zimmerman drove in two runs and Nelson, Jacob Rhinesmith, Harvey and Zachary Fascia one each. Ryan Humeniuk, Nelson and Luis Gimenez scored two runs apiece. The Falcons broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the 3rd and added on after that.
Again, a three-run 3rd inning got IHCC untracked in the second game. They took the lead with that three-run outburst and added insurance runs in the 4th and 5th. The Falcons stroked four doubles and Humeniuk and Gimenez both tripled. Marshalltown had solo homers in the first two innings from Luis Duran and Brok Hopwood, then were shut down by DeLeon, over the next four frames, and Fascia in the 7th.
There was good production from the first three batters in the order in game three: Humeniuk, Nelson and Gimenez were all 2-for-4. Humeniuk had three RBIs and designated hitter Colin Potrzeba scored twice. Zachary Lauzon came on after Spearing's six-inning effort for an inning of relief.
Indian Hills used six pitchers in the nightcap on Sunday. Miley's two scoreless innings earned him the win. Marshalltown led 5-4 heading into the 7th inning and padded their lead with three runs. The Falcons fought back to send the game to extra innings, then won it to go to 5-3 in conference play. Harvey's game-winning RBI gave him three for the game. He also had two hits, as did Humeniuk, Gimenez and Rhinesmith. Humeniuk scored three times and he and Zimmerman had triples.
The Falcons have a non-conference date at Southeastern on Tuesday and host DMACC for a twinbill on Wednesday. They return to ICCAC play against Southwestern at home on Saturday.