A solo home run by Luke Hammerberg in the bottom of the fourth inning proved to be the margin of victory for Xavier in a 3-2 win against Prairie in the first game of a Mississippi Valley doubleheader Friday night at Xavier.

Prairie claimed the nightcap, 9-1.

With the score tied at 2-2, Hammerberg drove a pitch over the left field fence. Starting pitcher Zach Brown and reliever Mitch Keller managed to make that run hold up for the victory.

“I just let my defense work for me,” said Brown.  “They have a good hitting front end of the lineup. They all hit the ball well, you just have to mix your pitches and keep them guessing.”

Hammerberg collected two hits and teammate Brenden Miller added a two-out RBI double in the second.

“That was the first homer I have hit and it was the first extra base hit I have this year,” said Hammerberg.  “It was an inside fastball with a different result than I am used to.”

Prairie pitcher Brennan Hammer gave up four hits in six innings and yielded 13 ground ball outs in the loss.  Tyler Votroubek had two hits for the Hawks.

Game two proved to be a pitching gem for Prairie pitcher Spencer Dean who gave up just three hits in six innings and picked up the win.

“I concentrated on using the inside and outside edges of the plate,” explained Dean.  “My curve really felt good tonight and it really worked well for me.”

Caleb Davison led the Hawk offensive attack going 3-for-4, scoring two runs and driving in three.

“I was hitting fastballs,” said Davison.  “In the first game I was trying to pull everything and in the second game I tried to go with the pitch and it helped me see the ball a little better.”

Votroubek collected two hits in the nightcap, as did Tyler Butz, who also had three RBI. He drove in two runs with a two-out hit in the first inning to lead the charge.

“In the second game I shortened my stroke and it really helped my swing,” said Butz.  “The shortened swing really improved my bat speed.”

“I thought we really pitched well tonight,” said Prairie Coach Matt Thede.  “We need to give Hammer better run support but both he and Dean pitched excellent baseball tonight.

“Xavier is a very good team and while I would have liked to have gotten that first game, (but) a split here is acceptable.”

“Two-out hits got us in that second game,” said Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel.  “The iffy weather prevents any of us from being able to square up with any kind of consistency.  As the weather gets better you will see the hitting improve.  We have room to grow.”

Xavier (5-2, 1-1) returns to action Monday with a doubleheader at Washington. Prairie (4-3, 1-1) plays in the Southeast Polk tournament Saturday. The Hawks face Western Dubuque in their first game and either Southeast Polk or Waterloo East in their second.

GAME 1

PRAIRIE (2): TMougin, ss, 3 0 1 1, Hammer, p, 3 1 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 3 0 2 0, Davison, lf, 3 0 1 0, Stallman, cf, 3 0 0 1, Butz, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Beckman, dh, 3 1 1 0, Day, c, 0 0 0 0, Peters, rf, 3 0 0 0, NMougin, 3b, 3 0 0 0.  Totals 27 2 5 2.

XAVIER (3): Grimm, cf, 3 0 0 0, Woods, 3b/ss, 2 1 0 0, Pick, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Brown, p/3b, 3 0 0 0, Ratz, rf, 3 0 0 0, Hammerberg, dh, 2 2 2 1, Dlouhy, 2b, 0 0 0 0, Helms, c, 1 0 0 0, Keller, ss/p, 1 0 0 0, Miller, lf, 2 0 1 1. Totals 20 3 4 2.

Prairie 110 000 0 - 2 5 0
Xavier 110 100 x - 3 4 2

Hammer and Day. Brown, Keller (6), and Helms.  W - Brown. L - Hammer. Sv - Keller. 2B - Miller. HR - Hammerberg. SB - Stallman, Butz, Beckman.

GAME 2

PRAIRIE (9): TMougin, ss, 3 1 1 0, Hammer, rf, 3 2 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 3 1 2 1, Benson, pr, 0 1 0 0, Davison, lf, 4 2 3 3, Stallman, cf, 3 0 0 0, Butz, 2b, 4 0 2 3, Peters, dh, 4 0 1 0, Dean, p, 0 0 0 0, Milks, p, 0 0 0 0, Digman, 3b, 3 2 1 0, NMougin, c, 2 0 0 0, Beckman, ph, 1 0 0 0.  Totals 30 9 10 7.

XAVIER (1): Grimm, cf, 4 0 1 0, Woods, ss/p, 4 0 0 0, Pick, p/1b, 3 1 1 0, Miller, cr, 0 0 0 0, Brown, 3b, 3 0 1 1, Ratz, rf, 3 0 0 0, Hammerberg, c, 3 0 0 0, Drahozal, cr, 0 0 0 0, Schulte, 1b, 1 0 0 0, Scott, p, 0 0 0 0, Schemmel, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Keller, 2b/ss, 3 0 0 0, Meaney, lf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 27 1 3 1.

Prairie  301 004 1 - 9 10 3
Xavoer 000 001 0 - 1  3 1

Dean, Milks (7), and Mougin.  Pick, Scott (5), Woods (6), and Hammerberg. W - Dean. L - Pick. 2B - Davison, Brown.  SB - TMougin, Davison, Digman.