NIACC falls to Iowa Central, 8-5

FORT DODGE - The NIACC baseball team dropped an 8-5 decision to No. 4 Iowa Central Thursday afternoon in the NJCAA Region 11 tournament at Harlan Rogers Park.

Iowa Central, the tournament's third seed, scored five runs in the seventh inning to take an 8-4 lead. The Trojans scored one run in the eighth inning to trim the deficit to three runs but that was as close as they could get in the tournament opener for both teams.

NIACC had taken a 4-3 lead with two runs in the top of the seventh inning.

NIACC (23-31) now faces Northeast CC (34-23) in an elimination game at 6 p.m. Thursday.

In Thursday's game against Iowa Central, NIACC's Isaac Huettl hit two home runs and drove in three runs.

The last time a NIACC baseball player hit two home runs in a regional tournament game was when Robbie Glendinning and Troy Bullingham both hit two home runs against Southeastern on May 15, 2016.

NIACC's Will Couchman plate a run with a triple in the seventh inning and Eli Anderson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly also in the seventh frame.

NIACC starter John Lyman, a sophomore left-hander, allowed three runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in five innings of work. Lyman now has 92 career strikeouts, which ranks 18th on the school's career strikeout list.

Josh Kirchhoff (9-1) gained the win in relief for the Tritons, who advance to play second-seed Southeastern at 11 a.m. Friday. Kirchhoff allowed one run on one hit with four strikeouts and two walks.

Iowa Central starter Ian Culver allowed two runs on five hits with 11 strikeouts and three walks in six innings of work.

NJCAA Region 11 tournament

(At Harlan Rogers Park, Fort Dodge)

Thursday's games

Game 1 - (4) Northeast CC (34-22) vs. (5) DMACC 10, (4) Northeast CC 2

Game 2 - (3) Iowa Central 8, (6) NIACC 5

Game 3 - 6 p.m. - Northeast CC vs. NIACC (Elimination game)

Friday's games

Game 4 - 11 a.m. - (2) Southeastern vs. (3) Iowa Central

Game 5 - 2:30 p.m. - (1) Kirkwood vs. (5) DMACC

Game 6 - 6 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs. Game 4/5 loser (Lower seed of the Game 4/5 losers will play in Game 6)

Saturday's games

Game 7 - 11 a.m. - Winner Game 6 vs. Game 4/5 loser (Higher seed of the Game 4/5 losers will play in Game 7)

Game 8 - 2:30 p.m. - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Game 9 - 6 p.m. - Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8

Sunday's games

Game 10 - 11 a.m. - Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9

Game 11 - 2:30 p.m. - If necessary game.