MOUNT PLEASANT – Pedro Hernandez (Sr.-Quebradillas, Puerto Rico) hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Iowa Wesleyan College a 6-5 win and a sweep of its baseball home opening doubleheader against Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) College Tuesday evening at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex.
The Tigers won the second game in extra innings after picking up a 10-0 win in five innings in the first game. IWC posted its first doubleheader sweep of the year and improved to 7-12 on the season, snapping a three-game losing streak and bouncing back from a tough performance on their spring break trip.
Hernandez hit a pair of home runs in the doubleheader, also adding a two-run homer in the first game. The senior finished with four RBIs over the two games, and his fifth home run of the season helped the Tigers come back from an early three-run deficit and win the nightcap.
Josh Sturges (Jr.-Murray, Utah) also added a solo home run and had three hits and two RBIs in the second game. The Tigers trailed twice in the game and had to fight through after HLG tied the game with a two-out solo home run by Matt Savage in the top of the seventh.
Wesleyan won the opener with ease, scoring four runs in both the second and third innings and adding two more runs in the fourth. Lino Sampson (So.-Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) had three hits and drove in three runs, while Jared Zueck (Sr.-Williamsville, Ill.) and Adam Dubuque (Jr.-St. Louis, Mo.) both added two RBIs.
Travis Parker (Sr.-Taylor Ridge, Ill.) made short work of HLG on the mound, pitching a five-inning shutout and allowing just two hits while striking out three in an efficient performance. The Tigers won the opener in just 1 hour, 14 minutes, as the ten-run rule came into play.
Travis Mundahl, Bryant Fernetti and Levi Graham led Hannibal-LaGrange with two hits apiece in the doubleheader. The Trojans dropped to 6-9 overall on the season.
IWC returns to the field on Wednesday when it travels to Lebanon, Ill., for a doubleheader against McKendree (Ill.) University. The twinbill will start at 2 p.m.
For more information regarding the IWC basketball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score Game 1 IWC 10 HLG 0 (5 inn.)
Box score Game 2 IWC 6 HLG 5 (8 inn.)
