Eagles get No. 5 seed for regional tournament
WEST BURLINGTON - The Kirkwood baseball team traded a pair of one-run victories with 16th-ranked Southeastern Community College Saturday and earned the No. 5 seed for the regional tournament.
Kirkwood (31-18) will face Northeast Community College (27-17) in the first round of the NJCAA Division II regional tournament this Thursday at noon at Ashford Field in Clinton.
Kirkwood trimmed Southeastern, 5-4, in 11 innings in the first game Saturday. Southeastern took the nightcap, 8-7, in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh.
Kirkwood finished the ICCAC campaign with a 15-13 record.
Caleb Fuller (3-0) pitched three scoreless innings in relief to finish the 5-4 victory in Game 1 and earn the victory. Levi Usher and Kal Youngquist were 2-for-5 and scored twice to lead the offense.
The Eagles enjoyed a 6-0 lead in Game 2, but Southeastern scored seven runs in the fourth inning to turn the game around. Zion Pettigrew and Gabe Lux drove in two runs for Kirkwood. Usher and Kirby Kerr scored twice.
Southeastern is 38-16 overall and 16-12 in the league.
GAME 1
Kirkwood 000 020 020 01 - 5 8 0
Southeastern 002 000 020 00 - 4 7 x
Lawler, Frese (5), Fuller (9) and Vaske. W - Fuller (3-0). 2B - Usher. RBI - Usher, Jackson, Givens, Loston. SB - Givens.
GAME 2
Kirkwood 150 010 0 - 7 8 0
Southeastern 000 700 1 - 8 6 x
Leff, Elion (4), Mann (4), Rivera-Sanchez (6), Kerr (7) and Robles. L - Kerr (1-1). 2B - Pettigrew, Loston, Robles, Lux. RBI - Jackson, Pettigrew 2, Youngquist, Robles, Lux 2. SB - Usher 2.
