NO.20 EAGLES STAY ALIVE IN REGIONAL

The Kirkwood Eagles defeated Northeast Community College, 10-2, Saturday night in the losers bracket finals to stay alive in the regional baseball tournament.

The 20th-ranked Eagles (38-20) will face Iowa Central (35-21) in the championship round Sunday at noon at the Plaster Athletic Complex in Cedar Rapids, needing two victories over the Tritons to win the regional title.

Iowa Central spanked Kirkwood, 9-1, in the winners bracket finals Saturday afternoon, knocking the Eagles into the losers bracket.

Kirkwood played one of its worst games of the season against Iowa Central. The Eagles, one of the top batting teams in the country, got only two hits and committed four errors. Kirkwood pitchers walked 14 batters.

The Eagles bounced back Saturday night with a 13-hit attack against Northeast. Joel Vaske went 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Cade Moss was 3-for-4. Chase Moseley went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Josh Fitzgerald and Trevor Burkhart scored twice.

Rian Yates pitched the first four innings for Kirkwood against Northeast and allowed two runs. Graysen Drezek (2-3) tossed three shutout innings in relief with four strikeouts for the victory.

Kirkwood won the game by the eight-run mercy rule in the bottom of the seventh.