Metro Sports Report

Kirkwood splits slugfest with Blackhawks

The Kirkwood and Southeastern junior college baseball teams engaged in an old-fashioned slugfest at the Kirkwood field Saturday afternoon and finished with a split.

The fourth-ranked Blackhawks socked Kirkwood 20-9 in the first game. The Eagles rebounded for a 14-11 triumph in the nightcap.

The two clubs also split a doubleheader in West Burlington on Friday.

RoughRiders eliminated from conference race

KEARNEY, Neb. - The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders lost to the Tri-City Storm, 4-1, Saturday night before 3,946 fans at the Viaero Event Center and were eliminated from title contention in the Eastern Conference of the USHL.

Cedar Rapids trails Youngstown by five points in the standings with only two games left in the regular season. Even if the RoughRiders win both games, they cannot catch Youngstown for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

The RoughRiders have a three-point lead on Dubuque for third place in the Eastern Conference and a four-point lead on Muskegon for fourth place in the jockeying for home-ice advantage in the playoffs. The RoughRiders will have the home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs if they can hold onto second place.

RoughRiders fall at Omaha, 6-3

OMAHA, Neb. - The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders missed a chance to help themselves in the fight for the USHL conference title Friday night.

The RoughRiders lost to Omaha, 6-3, before 3,661 fans at Ralston Arena to remain three points behind idle Youngstown in the Eastern Conference standings with only a handful of games left to play.

Youngstown leads the Eastern Conference with a 37-14-5 record for 79 points with four games left in their regular season. Cedar Rapids stands in second place at 38-19-0 for 76 points with three games left.

Dubuque has a 34-18-5 record for 73 points and Muskegon is 34-19-4 for 72 points. Dubuque and Muskegon both have three games remaining.

Kirkwood nearly sweeps No. 4 Southeastern

WEST BURLINGTON - The Kirkwood baseball team came within three outs of sweeping the fourth-ranked team in the country Friday, but the Eagles had to settle for a split instead.

Kirkwood edged Southeastern 5-4 in the first game and had a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning of the nightcap, but the Blackhawks tied the score in the bottom of the ninth and prevailed 4-3 in 12 innings.

The split left Kirkwood at 17-12 overall and 5-5 in the ICCAC conference. Southeastern is 24-7 and 8-2.

The same two teams are scheduled for another twinbill, this time at Kirkwood Saturday at 1 p.m.

Nick Drahozal (3-2) pitched another strong game in the opener for Kirkwood. He tossed six innings and allowed only one earned run, with seven strikeouts and two walks. Randy Perez pitched the bottom of the seventh and final inning for his second save.