Prairie sweeps Xavier in MVC doubleheader

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Prairie missed some key contributors due to illness and didn't skip a beat.

Other Hawks stepped in, stepped up and they managed to win handily, allowing a number of substitutes to enter the game.

The second game was more of a challenge, but Prairie overcame a slow start with a six-run fourth inning to claim an 8-5 victory, sweeping Cedar Rapids Xavier in a Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division doubleheader Friday night at Prairie. The Hawks won the opener, 13-3, in five innings.

'The challenge is you have to be prepared the first pitch of the second game,' Prairie Coach Todd Rima said. 'The last two doubleheaders we have played we haven't been as sharp in Game 2 as we were in Game 1. That has to be a focus moving forward.'

The teams were deadlocked, 2-2, with bases full of Hawks and two out in the fourth. Ethan Copeland smacked a full-count offering to center for a two-run single. With the runners moving on the pitch, Blake Viall scored from third when the ball was bobbled in the outfield, giving Prairie a 5-2 edge.

'He's got some big hits for us in clutch situations,' Rima said of Copeland, who had three RBIs in the opener.

Nic Mougin and Tyler Nunemaker added RBI hits and Cal Clark scored in the decisive inning. Rima said Xavier pitchers kept batters off balance, but the Hawks finally put good at-bats together.

'This team can do that,' said Rima, whose team sent 15 batters and scored nine runs in the second inning of the first game. 'We feel, at any time, we can put together that inning. That is a sign of a good team.'

Prairie (9-0, 4-0) continued its fast-paced offensive on the base paths. The Hawks stole 10 bases in the first two innings of the first game, leading to 10-0 advantage after two innings. Clark stole home on a double steal with Nunemaker for the first score of the night.

The Hawks took a 2-1 lead in the nightcap when two-out stolen bases led to RBI singles from Nunemaker and Cooper Reittinger.

'We are very athletic,' Rima said. 'That is the strength of our team. You have to play to your strengths.

'When we're locked in on it, I think we're tough to defend because we can put pressure and maybe they don't know what's going to happen next.'

Mougin, Nunemaker, Reittinger and Mitch Nierling had two hits apiece in the second game. Reittinger had three RBIs in the first game.

Xavier's Bryce Schulte had four total hits — two in each game — and an RBI. Nick Stark had three hits, including two in the opener. Gabe Lux added two RBIs in a final-inning rally for the Saints (0-7, 0-3).

l Comments: (319) 368-8679; kj.pilcher@thegazette.com