NIACC, Iowa Central meet in key 4-game series this weekend

MASON CITY – The NIACC baseball team sits in third place in the ICCAC standings with a record of 8-4.

The Trojans get a shot at league-leading Iowa Central Saturday and Sunday in a key four-game series at Roosevelt Stadium. Saturday’s twinbill starts at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s doubleheader is scheduled to start at noon.

Iowa Central (19-11 overall) leads the league with a record of 10-2. Southeastern (26-9 overall) is in second place in the league with a 9-3 mark and NIACC is two games back with its 8-4 league mark.

NIACC splits its four-game series at DMACC last weekend while Iowa Central swept Ellsworth in its four-game set.

NIACC enters the four-game set with a team batting average of .337, which ranks second in the ICCAC and 17th in NJCAA Division II. The Trojans lead the league with a .557 slugging percentage, which ranks second nationally.

The Trojans have hit 40 home runs this season, which ranks second in the ICCAC and ranks third nationally. The 2014 Trojans hit a total of 24 home runs and the 2013 team that placed fifth at the NJCAA Division II World Series hit 14 home runs.

Freshman Robbie Glendinning is hitting .402 with 10 doubles, four home runs and 25 RBIs. Freshman Luke Becker leads the Trojans with eight home runs and Zach Fricke leads the team with 34 RBIs.

Iowa Central enters the four-game series with a team earned run average of 4.51, which ranks second in the ICCAC. The Tritons’ top two starters are Joe Hawks and Abrahan Flete.

Hawks is 6-0 with a 3.27 ERA with 47 strikeouts and five walks in 33 innings pitched and three complete games. Flete is 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 11 walks in 39 innings pitched and two complete games.

NIACC’s ace is sophomore right-hander Quinn Ahern, who is 5-1 with a 5.40 ERA with 36 strikeouts and seven walks in 36 2/3 innings pitched and three complete games. Ahern is tied for 13th on NIACC’s career wins list with 8, ranks sixth on the school’s all-time strikeout list with 88, ranks 15th on school’s innings pitched list with 82 1/3 and is tied for third on the school’s complete-game list with five.

ICCAC baseball standings

Iowa Central 10-2 19-11

Southeastern 9-3 26-9

NIACC 8-4 20-8

Kirkwood 6-6 18-12

DMACC 6-6 17-14

Iowa Lakes 4-8 17-9

Southwestern 4-8 8-19

Ellsworth 1-11 9-22

Saturday/Sunday games

Southwestern at Kirkwood

Iowa Lakes at Southeastern