Austin Christensen tied the Cedar Rapids Kennedy record for career home runs Saturday and pitched a 1-hitter as the top-ranked Cougars spanked Burlington, 15-0, in four innings at Kennedy Field.

Christensen smacked the 25th homer of his career with a three-shot in the first inning, matching the school mark set by Tony Booth from 1987-90.

Christensen already holds the Kennedy career records for doubles (43) and RBIs (132).

"That's pretty incredible. I'm really happy about it," Christensen said. "There have been so many incredible players come through this school throughout the years, and to just have my name even in the same sentence with them is really nice."

Christensen collected a two-run double in the second inning and finished 2-for-3 with five RBIs.

Christensen, now a senior, has been an all-state player since his freshman year at Kennedy. He owns three career school records and is pursuing several others.

"The numbers speak for themselves. He's obviously pretty special," Coach Bret Hoyer said. "Baseball has been around for a while - and good baseball has been around for awhile - and there have been a ton of good players to come through here. Yeah, that's a pretty neat deal."

Christensen (2-0) struck out eight batters and allowed only an infield single in the abbreviated game, which was stopped in the bottom of the fourth inning by the 15-run mercy rule after Austin Benson hit a two-run double.

Devon Jacobus also homered for the top-ranked Cougars (4-1) when they scored nine runs in the first inning. Burlington fell to 2-1.

BURLINGTON (0)
Hatch, cf, 2 0 0 0, B.Pflum 2 0 0 0, Shaver, 1b, 2 0 1 0, Massner, p, 2 0 0 0, D.Pflum, c, 2 0 0 0, Hartsock, 3b, 1 0 0 0, Patton, rf, 1 0 0 0, Patterson, lf, 1 0 0 0, Dunn, 2b, 1 0 0 0. Totals 14 0 1.

KENNEDY (15)
Sykes, 2b, 2 3 1 1, Yancey, lf, 1 2 1 1, Christensen, p, 3 1 2 5, Hayden, cr, 0 0 0 0, Michael, ss, 3 0 0 0, Jacobus, 3b, 3 2 2 1, Jahlas, cf, 3 1 0 0, Bell, 1b, 2 3 2 1, Maiers, c, 3 1 2 1, Winters, cr, 0 1 0 0, Benson, dh, 1 1 1 2, Ambrosy, rf, 0 0 0 0. 21 15 11 12.

Burlington   000 0 - 0 1 1
Kennedy    940 2 - 15 11 1

Massner, B. Pflum (1) and D. Pflum. Christensen and Maiers. W - Christensen (2-0). L - Massner.
2B - Yancey, Christensen, Benson. HR - Christensen, Jacobus. SB - Sykes 2, Benson 2, Yancey, Jahlas.