KOKOMO, Ind. - IU Southeast baseball clinched the River States Conference regular season championship after sweeping a doubleheader over IU Kokomo Saturday
With Saturday's results, IU Southeast will be the No. 1 seed at the upcoming conference tournament. The Grenadiers will be on the road again Sunday for one game against IU Kokomo, their final regular season game.
Game 1: IU Southeast 3, IU Kokomo 0
IU Kokomo finished the game with no runs, with their best scoring chance coming in the bottom of the second. The Cougars had runners on second and third with no outs. Their first out came via after a groundout to third. The runner at third was caught in a pickle and eventually picked off, then another groundout to third kept the score 0-0.
After five full innings of no score, Caden Lockwood put the Grenadiers up 2-0 with a double down the left field. After putting his team ahead, Lockwood scored after Kasen Parks singled to center to put IU Southeast up 3-0.
Brendan Whalen got the start and the win for the Grenadiers and had another fantastic outing. Whalen pitched 7.0 innings, allowing zero runs on six hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. Weston Harvey picked up his second save of the season after pitching 2.0 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and striking out three Cougars.
Game 2: IU Southeast 8, IU Kokomo 1
Joel Johnson tapped the dish in the top of the first after a groundout by Trevor Goodwin, then the Cougars tied the score at 1-1 in the fourth. Neither team scored again until the Grenadiers had a big inning in the top of the seventh.
Goodwin, after giving IU Southeast the lead in the first, put his team back ahead in the seventh. With the bases loaded and outs, Goodwin emptied the bases with a three-run double down the left field line. Bryson Arnette, Gabe Yonto, and Lockwood all drew walks and put the Grenadiers up 5-1.
Alex Schuler capped off the inning with a bases-clearing triple, making the score 8-1. IU Southeast scored seven runs off just two hits. Jake Gothrup pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh and the Grenadiers secured the sweep.
