JUCO baseball: IHCC knocks off No. 8 Wabash Valley at Babe Howard Classic
Feb. 24—MILLINGTON, Tn. — The Indian Hills baseball team picked up two wins on Friday afternoon, including a victory over the eighth-ranked team in the nation at the Babe Howard JUCO Classic.
Playing in its second tournament in within the last week at the USA Baseball Complex, Indian Hills cruised to a 7-2 win over Kaskaskia College in Friday's opener before stifling No. 8 Wabash Valley College, 3-1, in the nightcap. Both victories come against National Junior College Athletic Conference (NJCAA) Midwest District foes.
"We played a couple of clean baseball games defensively," stated IHCC head coach Matthew Torrez. "The pitchers gave us a chance in both games. We did a better job up there minimizing free passes and we made the routine plays behind them."
Unfavorable weather delayed the start of Friday's contests, but the Warriors wasted no time getting on the board in the opener against Kaskaskia. Indian Hills plated a pair of runs in the opening frame as sophomore Daniel Figueroa worked the bases with a walk and later scored on a Sergio Chavez single to left. Chavez later scored on a double to left from Logan Myers.
Sophomore hurler Jack Nelson, making his second start of the year, worked four consecutive 1-2-3 frames to open the game. The Warriors tacked on two more runs in the fifth to extend the lead as Figueroa scored on a Merrick Mathews double before Mathews crossed the plate on an RBI single from Chavez.
Myers later scored in the sixth before Figueroa delivered an RBI single to score Jason Schaaf for a 6-1 advantage. Mathews scored the final run in the seventh on a wild pitch.
"Jack gave us another quality start in game one," Torrez added after Nelson posted his second quality start of the year.
Nelson allowed just the one earned run in five innings while striking out seven batters with zero walks. The sophomore hurler allowed just one base hit.
Chavez finished the game 3-4 with a pair of RBI while Figueroa went 2-3 at the dish with two runs scored. Freshman Dylan Sayles went 2-4 for his first-career multi-hit game.
In the nightcap, the Warriors squared off against the Wabash Valley Warriors, a team that Indian Hills defeated twice in the 2021 NJCAA Midwest District Tournament to advance to the JUCO World Series. Wabash Valley, coming off a JUCO World Series trip in 2022, plated the game's first run in the third inning for the early edge.
After failing to earn a baserunner in each of the first three innings, the Warrior offense came to life in the fourth. With two outs, sophomore Adrian Vargas delivered a two-run double to center to score Ciro Benavides and Mathews to take a 2-1 advantage.
Freshman Nathan Smithburg held the Wabash Valley bats silent in 2 2/3 innings of relief work on the mound as Indian Hills tacked on another run in the fifth. Figueroa tallied a one-out single and came around on an RBI single from Mathews for the 3-1 lead.
Smithburg's effectiveness kept the lead in check before handing the ball off to sophomore Sam Hart. Hart allowed just one baserunner, a walk, over the final 1 2/3 innings to pick up his second save of the year.
"Nathan did a terrific job in game two to give us a chance to climb back into the game," Torrez mentioned.
Smithburg allowed just two hits and struck out four batters to earn his second win of the year. Friday's win over Wabash Valley was the second time this season Smithburg and Hart teamed up for the win-save combination.
Vargas finished the game 2-3 at the plate while adding a stolen base in the win.
"Our hitters did a great job of getting the baseball in play today and minimizing our strikeouts against a couple quality arms," Torrez added. "We came out with effort and energy in not such great weather again today. Really happy with the kids being excited to be in the moment and want to compete all day."
The Warriors return to action at the Babe Howard JUCO Classic on Saturday. Due to Friday's scheduling alterations, Indian Hills will now take on Lincoln Trail College at 11 a.m. and Carl Albert State College at 1:30 p.m.
