Kirkwood Baseball

Eagles top NIACC in 14 innings

Angel Merced drove in Zach Patterson with the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning Saturday as Kirkwood outlasted NIACC, 3-2, in the first game of a conference doubleheader at Kirkwood.

NIACC claimed the second game, 7-3.

Merced hit a shot over the left-fielder's head to win the opener for Kirkwood. Will Ross pitched the first eight innings for the Eagles and allowed two runs. Randy Perez tossed the final six innings and sparkled in relief, allowing only one hit with 10 strikeouts.

Perez and Sulliam Rios Reyes went 3-for-6 in the first game. Patterson and Merced had two hits.

Matt Paciello collected two hits for Kirkwood in the second game.

The split left Kirkwood at 26-13 overall and 11-9 in the league. NIACC stands at 20-27 and 8-16. Kirkwood won the weekend series, 3-1.

Kirkwood baseball team sweeps NIACC

The surging Kirkwood Eagles swept a doubleheader from NIACC Friday at the Kirkwood diamond, 7-5 and 12-1.

The Eagles began the ICCAC campaign with four straight losses, but they have rallied and are now 10-8 in the conference and 25-12 overall.

Zach Patterson and Nick Jones had two hits for Kirkwood in the opener. Sulliam Rios Reyes drove in two runs and Milton Croes slugged a home run. Cale Henke pitched seven innings for the victory.

The Eagles unleashed an 18-hit attack in the second game despite batting only four times in the five-inning game. The Eagles scored five runs in the third inning and five more runs in the fourth and won the game by the mercy rule.

Patterson went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the second game. Rios Reyes was 2-for-4. Eric Schenck-Joblinske went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Matt Paciello was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and Randy Perez was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Jones had two more hits. Jamison Steege pitched a complete, allowing three hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

NIACC fell to 19-26 overall and 7-15 in the league.

Eagles sweep NIACC for 23 in row

The fourth-ranked Kirkwood softball team ran its winning streak to 23 games Saturday by sweeping an ICCAC doubleheader from NIACC, 3-2 and 12-4, at the Kirkwood field.

Shy Saladino (21-0, 1.22 ERA) pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts in the opener. Lexi Quandt went 2-for-3 and Jenna Schulte drove in two runs.

Natalie Clark went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs in the second game. Tara Walls was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Krysta Tutsch was 2-for-2 with a homer and three RBIs. Chasney Jenkins went 3-for-3.

Sam Belz (22-4, 1.46) was the winning pitcher in the nightcap.

Merced stars as KCC sweeps twinbill

CRESTON - Angel Merced went 7-for-11 and drove in six runs Friday as the Kirkwood Eagles swept an ICCAC doubleheader from Southwestern, 12-2 and 17-15, in Creston.

Merced was 4-for-5 with two RBIs in the first game. He continued his hot hitting by going 3-for-6 with four more RBIs in the nightcap.

Kirkwood (22-11, 7-7) pounded out 15 hits in both games.

Zach Patterson, Eric Schenck-Joblinske, Nick Jones and Randy Perez had two hits in the first game. Schenck-Joblinske collected a double, triple and two RBIs. Cale Henke struck out 11 batters in seven innings for the victory.

Patterson, Sulliam Rios Reyes and Schenck-Joblinske - the top three batters in the lineup - combined to score 10 runs in the second game.

Perez went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Shawn Hagarty was 3-for-4 and scored three times. Patterson had two more hits.