Brennan Hammer was cleared to play baseball Monday morning after missing eight games with the Prairie Hawks due to a sore right knee.

He didn't miss a beat.

Hammer helped Prairie sweep a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill from Dubuque Hempstead, 8-2 and 17-9, at Prairie Monday night.

Hammer started on the mound in the opener and there were no signs of rust at all. The southpaw retired the first 12 men he faced and looked in good form.

Hammer injured his right knee making a diving catch against Linn-Mar on June 15 and missed 10 days. He was examined by the chief of sports medicine at the University of Iowa Monday morning and given permission to play.

"He said it's good to go," Hammer remarked. "That's all I needed to hear."

His perfect game bid was broken up by a leadoff single by Ben George in the fifth, but by then the Hawks were in control.

“When he steps to the mound it’s almost like we have a different level of confidence out there, like we only have to score a couple runs to be in contention to win the game,” said Coach Matt Thede.

The Hawks showed that confidence when they stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first inning by scoring five times on four consecutive RBI hits. The No. 3 through 7 hitters carried the offense, going an eye-opening 10-for-17 in the ballgame.

Right in the middle of that was Tyler Votroubek, who went 3-for-4 in the opener with an RBI.

The first-inning outburst was plenty for Hammer (5-0). He went six innings, giving up five hits and two unearned runs in the 8-2 victory.

The second game was an exhibition of effective at-bats by the Hawks. They found themselves down early 3-0, but struck back in the bottom of the second with four runs of their own, led by a Votroubek RBI single.

Both teams traded runs until the bottom of the fifth when Prairie trailed 8-6. The Hawks sent 16 men to the plate and scored 11 times on only three hits.

It was Votroubek again, collecting two hits and three RBIs in the fifth inning. The inning was not exactly a hit parade, however.

Mitch Peters drew a bases-loaded walk on a 10 pitch at-bat to tie the game, 8-8. The next six Hawks came to the plate and they all drew RBI walks as well. Prairie had only three hits in the inning, but scored 11 times.

Votroubek went 3-for-3 in the nightcap, making him 6-for-7 in the twinbill with six singles. He also drove in four runs.

“I am just seeing the ball so much better right now. I am keeping my weight back and driving the ball,” he said.

Prairie raised its records to 17-13 overall and 10-8 in the MVC. Hempstead fell to 9-18 overall and 8-10 in the league.

GAME ONE

HEMPSTEAD (2)
Stevenson, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Boleyn, p/3b, 4 0 0 0, Tomkins, ss, 3 1 1 0, George, 3b/p, 2 0 1 0, Vanderlee, 1b, 3 0 1 2, Fitzgerald, rf, 3 0 1 0, Houselog, lf, 3 0 0 0, Keleher, c, 3 0 0 0, Seymour, cf, 3 0 0 0.  Totals 27 2 5 2.

PRAIRIE (8)
Velvick, cf, 5 1 1 0, Mougin, ss, 3 2 0 0, Carlson, 2b, 2 1 2 1, Butz, 3b, 3 1 1 2, Votroubek, 1b, 4 2 3 1, Hammer, p, 4 0 2 2, Alberts, lf, 4 0 2 1, Pond, c, 2 0 0 1, Schulte, rf, 2 0 0 0.  Davison, cr, 0 1 0 0. Totals 29 8 11 8.

Hempstead    000 002 0 - 2  5  4
Prairie            510 110 x - 8 11 2

Boleyn, George (3) and Keleher; Hammer, Dean (7) and Pond. W - Hammer (5-0). L - Boleyn. 2B - Hammer. 3B - Carlson. SB - Votroubek, Carlson.

GAME TWO

HEMPSTEAD (8)
Stevenson, 2b, 4 3 2 1, Tomkins, ss, 4 1 3 3, Bortscheller, dh, 5 0 1 2, George, 3b, 3 0 1 0, Vanderlee, 1b, 5 0 1 1, Wilgenbusch, c, 4 1 2 0, D.Fitzgerald, p, 4 2 2 0, C.Fitzgerald, rf/p, 4 0 0 0, Houselog, lf/p, 2 2 0 0. Totals 35 9 12 7.

PRAIRIE (17)
Velvick, cf, 3 1 0 1, Digman, ph, 1 0 1 0, Swanson, ph, 1 0 0 0, Mougin, ss, 3 1 0 1, Carlson, 2b, 3 2 1 1, Adams, ph, 1 0 1 0, Butz, 3b, 1 4 1 1, Wagner, ph, 1 0 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 3 3 3 4, Henry, ph, 1 0 0 0, Hammer, dh, 3 1 1 1, Alberts, lf, 1 2 1 1, Pond, c, 2 0 0 1, Peters, ph, 0 1 0 1, Davison, rf, 3 1 1 3, Schulte, cr, 0 1 0 0. Totals 27 17 10 15.

Hempstead   030 320 1 - 9 12 1
Prairie          041 0(11)0 x - 17 10 3

D.Fitzgerald, Houselog (5), C.Fitzgerald (5) and Wilgenbusch; Steffens, Dean (4), Beckman (6) and Pond.  W - Dean. L - D.Fitzgerald. 2B - Tomkins, Stevenson, Adams. 3B - Carlson, Butz. SB - Tomkins, Stevenson, Houselog, Bortscheller 2, Votroubek.