Kirkwood Baseball

Eagles take series from No. 11 Tritons

Matt Paciello went 4-for-4 and led a 15-hit attack as Kirkwood dumped Iowa Central, 12-4, in the second game of an ICCAC conference doubleheader at Kirkwood Saturday afternoon.

Iowa Central won the first game, 12-0, in five innings.

Kirkwood took three-of-four games in the weekend series from the 11th-ranked Tritons. The Eagles raised their records to 18-10 overall and 5-7 in the league. Iowa Central fell to 25-13 overall and 10-6 in the conference.

Angel Merced hit his fourth home run and drove in two runs for Kirkwood in the second game. Shane Kemp went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. Randy Perez and Austin Schmitt collected two RBIS. Nick Jones went 2-for-3 and scored three runs.

Jeffrey Castillo pitched six innings for the victory.

Eagles use 'small ball' in sweep

Todd Rima does not have a lot of big boppers on his ballclub this year, so the Kirkwood baseball coach has begun reaching into his bag of tricks to win games.

The "small ball" attack worked just fine Wednesday as the Eagles swept Muscatine, 6-4 and 8-6, in a non-conference twinbill on a windy day at Kirkwood.

Muscatine socked three home runs in the first game, but the Eagles countered with four sacrifice flies to stay in the game and ultimately win it.

Sulliam Rios Reyes hit a home run for the Eagles in the second game, but Kirkwood mounted a good portion of its attack with the hit-and-run and a suicide squeeze.

The Eagles have hit only four home runs in 24 games this season. Angel Merced has three of the homers and Rios Reyes has the other.

Rima implemented the "small ball" attack in the fourth game of a weekend series against Ellsworth this past Sunday.

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Merced powers Kirkwood to split

Angel Merced went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and six RBIs Sunday as Kirkwood Community College belted Ellsworth, 14-1, in five innings in the second game of an ICCAC doubleheader at the Kirkwood field in Cedar Rapids.

Ellsworth won the first game, 4-2.

The Eagles got their offense going in the second game to make life easier on the mound for Jeffrey Castillo, who pitched a one-hitter with three strikeouts.

Sulliam Rios Reyes went 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Milton Croes was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Zach Patterson went 2-for-3 and scored twice, Randy Perez drove in two runs and Eric Schenck-Joblinske scored three times.

Merced also hit a home run in the first game, and Rios Reyes was 2-for-3. Will Ross pitched 8.1 innings for the Eagles and allowed four runs in the opener. He struck out eight batters.

The split left Kirkwood at 13-9 overall and 2-6 in the conference. Ellsworth is 12-17 overall and 6-4 in the league.

Rima wins 400th game as Eagles split

Cale Henke pounded the strike zone Saturday and helped the Kirkwood Eagles split an ICCAC doubleheader with Ellsworth at the Kirkwood field in Cedar Rapids.

Henke struck out eight batters and allowed only one earned run as the Eagles topped Ellsworth, 8-2, in the first game of the twinbill.

Ellsworth (11-16, 5-3) took the second game, 6-2.

Kirkwood Coach Todd Rima won the 400th game of his career Saturday. He spent 11 years at NIACC and has been Kirkwood's head coach the past two seasons.

Angel Merced hit a home run and went 2-for-4 for Kirkwood (12-8, 1-5) in the first game. Sulliam Rios Reyes went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Zach Patterson was 2-for-3 and scored three runs. Nick Jones collected two RBIs.

Eric Schenck-Joblinske was 2-for-4 in both games for Kirkwood.

Kirkwood and Ellsworth will play another doubleheader Sunday at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids at 1 p.m.