NIACC sweeps No. 5 Kirkwood
MASON CITY - NIACC's Bennett McCollow had himself a day.
The freshman second baseman from Minneapolis hit five home runs with 11 RBIs to lead the Trojans to an ICCAC doubleheader sweep of No. 5 Kirkwood Wednesday in their home opener at a chilly and windy Roosevelt Field.
The five home runs in a doubleheader is the most for the Trojans since Matt Schwarz hit four home runs in a twinbill against Ellsworth on May 5, 2017.
McCollow hit two home runs, including a grand slam, with five RBIs as NIACC won the opener 13-2 in five innings giving the Trojans their first ICCAC win of the 2022 season. McCollow hit three home runs with six RBIs as the Trojans (12-8 overall, 2-3 in the ICCAC) completed the sweep with a 20-12 win in the nightcap.
McCollow also hit for the home run cycle in the doubleheader sweep. He hit a grand slam in the first inning of the first game, he hit a 3-run home run in the eighth inning of the second game, he hit a two-run homer in the second inning of game one and hit solo home runs in the second inning of game one and the fifth inning of game two.
It was just the third time in the last 10 seasons that a NIACC player has hit three home runs in a single game. Schwarz hit three in the second game of a doubleheader against Ellsworth in 2017 and Austin LaDoux hit three home runs in second game of a twinbill against DMACC on April 3, 2016.
McCollow, who now has seven home runs this season, wasn't the only Trojan to play long ball in Wednesday's doubleheader that finished with the feels like temperature of 17 degrees. NIACC hit 11 home runs (five in the first game and six in the second game) in the twinbill and received home runs from five different players.
The last time the Trojans hit six home runs in a game was against the Central College Junior Varsity in the first game of a doubleheader on May 2, 2019.
NIACC's Cody Kelly hit three home runs, including two in the second game. Kelly led off the bottom of the first inning of both games with round trippers.
NIACC's Cayden Nicoletto and Cole Fuecker both hit two-run home runs in the first game.
In the second game, McCollow hit his three homers, Kelly added his two and Ike Mezzenga hit a 2-run home run.
In the first game, NIACC's Connor Wietgrefe (3-0) gained the complete-game win. Wietgrefe allowed two runs on seven hits with career-high eight strikeouts and two walks.
NIACC scored six runs in the first inning, including a leadoff home run by Kelly and a grand slam from McCollow.
In the second inning, Fuecker and McCollow hit back-to-back home runs as the Trojans plated three runs.
NIACC scored four more runs in the fourth inning highlighted by Nicoletto's two-run blast.
In the second game, NIACC pounded out 22 hits to score its 20 runs. The 20 runs was the most by the Trojans since they scored 24 in a 28-24 loss to Hutchinson CC on March 14, 2018.
The 22 hits is the most in a game by a NIACC team since the Trojans collected 20 hits in second game of doubleheader against Marshalltown CC on April 24, 2021.
NIACC scored five runs in the first inning, including a leadoff home run by Kelly, who leads the Trojans with eight home runs, and a two-run homer from McCollow.
NIACC also scored a single run in the fourth inning, three runs in the fifth innings, four runs in the sixth inning, four runs in the seventh inning and three runs in the eighth inning.
McCollow reached base in all six of his plate apperances in the second game. He homered in the first, walked in the third, homered in the fifth, walked in the sixth and seventh and homered in the eighth.
NIACC returns to action Saturday and Sunday at home against Indian Hills in a three-game series. The two teams play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and play a single game on Sunday also starting at 1 p.m.