Kirkwood Baseball

Kirkwood baseball team has tough day

The Kirkwood baseball team began Friday in a tie for first place in the ICCAC conference standings, but by the time the long frustrating  day was over the Eagles had slipped all the way to fourth.

Now the Eagles have to bounce back in a rare "triple-header" against 19th-ranked Southeastern Saturday afternoon to climb back on top of the standings on the final day of the regular season.

Kirkwood wasted a terrific effort by right-hander Joe Funkhouser and lost the first game of Friday's doubleheader to Southeastern, 1-0, at the Kirkwood field.

The second game was suspended by darkness with the score tied, 8-8, after eight innings. The Eagles had an 8-2 lead after five innings, but saw it slip away.

Kirkwood and Southeastern will resume the suspended game at noon Saturday, followed by the regularly scheduled doubleheader.

If the Eagles win all three times Saturday, they can clinch at least a tie for first place. If they lose all three games, they can fall all the way to fifth place.

Read more...

KCC's Kramer wins national baseball award

Kirkwood outfielder Ross Kramer has been named the National NJCAA  Player of the Week for games played from April 24 to April 30.

Kramer, a freshman from Urbandale, hit three home runs and drove in  six runs in a 10-6 victory over NIACC. He hit .529 with three doubles,  three homers and seven RBIs in the four-game series.

Kramer and the Eagles are hosting Southeastern Community College in a  four-game series this Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.

Kirkwood and Southeastern are tied for the conference lead with 13-7  records heading into the final weekend of the regular season, but  NIACC and Iowa Central are just a game behind at 12-8.

Long stars as Eagles split with NIACC

MASON CITY - Peyton Long and the Kirkwood Eagles are coming back from a cold, wet weekend in Mason City with a chance to win the ICCAC conference title in Cedar Rapids this week.

Long sparkled on the mound Saturday as the Eagles topped NIACC, 10-2, in the first game of a league doubleheader.

Long tossed a complete game and allowed two earned runs on five hits, with 10 strikeouts and three walks. The freshman from Des Moines raised his record to 6-1, giving him the most wins on the staff.

NIACC won the second game, 10-6.

The split left Kirkwood with a 13-7 record in the conference, good for a virtual tie for first place with Southeastern in the compact league standings.

Southeastern leads the race by percentage points with a 12-6 record heading into a doubleheader with DMACC on Sunday. Kirkwood will be hosting Southeastern in a four-game series this Friday and Saturday in what could be a showdown for the title, but three other teams are still in the hunt as well.

Read more...

Kramer stars as Eagles tie for ICCAC lead

MASON CITY - Ross Kramer had socked only one home run all season for  the Kirkwood Eagles heading into Friday's doubleheader at NIACC, but  that changed dramatically.

Kramer belted three homers and knocked in six runs as the Eagles  topped NIACC, 10-6, in the first game of their ICCAC conference  doubleheader at Mason City.

NIACC rallied to win the second game, 3-2, in 10 innings, but the  split was good enough to lift Kirkwood into a tie for the conference  lead with six games left in the race.

Kramer, a freshman from Urbandale, collected a grand slam and two solo  shots in the first game. Spencer Wiskus, a freshman from Iowa City,  also hit a homer and drove in four runs for the Eagles.

Porter Hummel picked up the victory with five innings in relief.

Kirkwood led, 2-0, heading into the bottom of the ninth in the second  game, needing three outs to sweep the twinbill and take over sole  possession of first place in the league. NIACC scored twice in the  bottom of the ninth and pushed across the winning run with one out in  the 10th for the victory.

Read more...