Metro Sports Report

Kirkwood golfers eye regional title

PANORA - The Kirkwood men's golf team is locked in a tight battle with DMACC for top honors at the NJCAA Region XI Championship at the Lake Panorama National Resort.

DMACC holds the first-round lead with a team score of 299 Saturday, with Kirkwood just one shot behind in second place at 300.

The final round is Sunday. The top three teams advance to the national tournament.

JD Goodfellow, Dawson Peters and Max Thrune of Kirkwood fired rounds of 2-over-par 74 and are tied for second place in the individual standings with five other golfers. Reinhardt Saunderson of Southwestern Community College has a four-shot lead at 2-under 70.

Kuch helps No. 5 Eagles slam Ellsworth

Lauren Kuch lofted a long fly ball down the left-field line and dutifully ran to first base Friday afternoon, thinking she'd have to turn around and take another swing.

"I actually thought it was going to be foul," she said.

Kuch knew she was wrong when she heard a loud "ping" as the ball hit the metal foul pole. The bases were loaded, so it became a grand slam home run instead of a long strike.

"I was excited," Kuch said. "Yeah, I was excited."

Kuch's grand slam in the bottom of the first inning steered the fifth-ranked Eagles to a 10-0 victory over Ellsworth in the opening round of the regional junior college tournament at Kirkwood.

The game was stopped after 4 1/2 innings due to the college mercy rule.

Fullard commits to Iowa baseball

Izaya Fullard has become the third member of the 2018 Kirkwood baseball team to commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes for next season.

Fullard, a third baseman and first baseman, is a freshman from Iowa City West. He is hitting .436 with four home runs and 58 RBIs at Kirkwood.

Fullard will have three years of eligibility at Iowa. He joins Kirkwood shortstop Korry Kowell and pitcher Hunter Lee as future Hawkeyes.

SCC sweeps Eagles out of ICCAC race

WEST BURLINGTON - The Kirkwood Eagles needed to win their weekend  series against Southeastern to win the conference baseball title, but  their hopes were dashed Friday in West Burlington.

The fourth-ranked Southeastern Blackhawks swept the 11th-ranked  Eagles, 9-1 and 3-2, to clinch the conference title.

Kirkwood hosts Southeastern in another doubleheader Saturday at 1  p.m., but the Eagles have been eliminated from title contention and  have fallen into third place.

Southeastern tops the ICCAC standings at 22-4. NIACC has jumped into second place at 19-6-1, with Kirkwood now third at 17-6-1.

Kirkwood got only five hits in the 9-1 loss in the opener and had only  four hits in the 3-2 loss in the nightcap. Kal Youngquist hit a home  run for the Eagles in Game 2.