The Kirkwood Community College baseball team is off to a good start this season with a 14-2 overall record and four straight wins in the ICCAC conference.

It will be interesting to see what happens once the Eagles finally get a chance to practice outside this year.

Cold weather and a soupy field have forced the Eagles to practice inside so far, but they're doing just fine in the games.

Kirkwood swept a doubleheader from Iowa Lakes for the second straight day Monday, this time 10-0 and 13-8, on a cold, blustery afternoon with the temperature in the high 30's.

The Eagles (14-2, 4-0) spent a considerable amount of time mopping up water Friday and Saturday, then mopped up Iowa Lakes in four straight games Sunday and Monday.

"I'm really proud of the guys," said Coach Todd Rima, in his first year at Kirkwood. "I mean, after all the work they did on the field, and then to come out in tough conditions and play as well as we did, I was very proud of our effort."

Cale Henke, a lanky 6-foot-4 right-hander from Hudson, tossed a neat three-hit shutout in the first game. He spaced three singles, did not walk a batter and fanned three Lakers.

The game ended after 4 1/2 innings by the mercy rule.

Henke has pitched a few innings in cold weather before, but never this much in one outing.

"It was pretty tough," he said. "It was hard to keep my fingers a little warm.

"I kept blowing on my hands and tried to keep them warm as much as I could and tried to stay active in the dugout."

Collin Belk, a 6-foot-3 right-hander from Davenport, pitched a no-hitter in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader against Iowa Lakes, then Henke tossed a three-hit shutout in the first game Monday.

"When you have starting pitchers do that in the first game of a doubleheader, you've got a shot," said Rima.

Henke challenged batters with his fastball, then fooled them with a sharp-breaking curveball.

"That's what we like about Cale. He's going to throw strikes," said Rima. "He's going to force you to attack, and hopefully our defense works behind him. I'm very happy with his effort."

Shortstop Dennis Colon and second baseman Jean Carlos Rodriguez made brilliant plays in the field to support Henke.

"That gets you more pumped up," said Henke. "I was thinking about that when I was coming into the dugout: I've got a solid field behind me. I wasn't worried once when the ball went behind me.

"It's easy for me out there. It's nice and comfortable."

Angel Merced, a freshman from Puerto Rico, stayed hot at the plate on a cold day and went 6-for-7 in the twinbill with four RBIs. Dairo Gonzalez, a sophomore from Florida, went 4-for-7 with five RBIs.

Kirkwood is scheduled to host Marshalltown in another doubleheader Tuesday at 2 p.m.

GAME 1

IOWA LAKES (0): Perez, rf, 2 0 0 0, Torres, cf, 2 0 1 0, Rosario, lf, 2 0 0 0, Gonzalez, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Ramirez, 2b, 2 0 1 0, Arroyo, ss, 2 0 1 0, Kandborg, dh, 2 0 0 0, Johnson, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Nunez, c, 2 0 0 0, Brito, p, 0 0 0 0, Dominguez, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 18 0 3 0.

KIRKWOOD (10): Schenck-Joblinske, lf, 1 2 0 0, Rodriguez, 2b, 2 2 0 0, Czarneski, ph, 1 0 0 0, Adams, 2b, 0 0 0 0, Gonzalez, 3b, 3 1 1 1, Brodzinski, c, 2 2 1 1, Merced, dh, 3 2 3 2, Hernandez, 1b, 1 0 1 2, Kemp, rf, 2 1 0 0, Colon, ss, 2 0 0 1, Hagarty, cf, 2 0 0 0, Henke, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 19 10 6 7.

Iowa Lakes   000 00 -  0 3 5
Kirkwood      520 3x - 10 6 0

Brito, Dominguez (4) and Nunez. Henke and Brodzinski. W - Henke. L - Brito. 2B - Hernandez. SB - Schneck-Joblinske (2).

GAME 2

IOWA LAKES (8): Torres, cf, 4 1 2 4, Ramirez, dh, 5 1 2 1, O'Melia, 1b, 2 0 0 1, Gonzalez, c, 3 0 1 2, Rosario, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Padilla, ph/3b, 1 0 0 0, Arroyo, ss, 4 0 0 0, Kandborg, 2b, 3 3 2 0, Perez, rf, 4 1 2 0, Galagarza, lf, 3 2 2 0, Fuguet, p, 0 0 0 0, Smith, p, 0 0 0 0, De Los Santos, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 32 8 11 8.

KIRKWOOD (14): Schenck-Joblinske, lf, 5 2 2 0, Rodriguez, 2b, 4 2 2 2, Gonzalez, 3b, 4 2 3 4, Brodzinksi, c, 5 1 2 0, Hast, c, 0 0 0 0, Hernandez, 1b, 2 1 1 1, Croes, rf, 4 0 2 0, Colon, ss, 4 2 2 0, Hagarty, cf, 1 2 1 2, Bakeris, p, 0 0 0 0, Amador, p, 0 0 0 0, Kemp, p, 0 0 0 0, Adams, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 33 13 18 11.

Iowa Lakes   110 310 2 -  8 11 3
Kirkwood      442 201 x - 13 18 1

Fuguet, Smith (4), De Los Santos (5) and Gonzalez. Bakeris, Amador (3), Kemp (4), Adams (7) and Brodzinski. W - Kemp. L - Fuguet. 2B - Galagarza, Schenck-Joblinske, Gonzalez (K), Hernandez. SB - Colon.