Indians Pile Up 31 Hits but Fall Twice to No. 21 Lake Land

FULTON, Miss. - ICC went toe-to-toe with No. 21 Lake Land in a doubleheader. The Indians swung it all day, piled up 31 hits across two games, and still walked away on the wrong side of a pair of one-inning flips as the Lakers took Game 1, 19-16, and Game 2, 14-10 on Thursday.

Game 1: No. 21 Lake Land 19, ICC 16

It was loud early and it stayed loud. Lake Land jumped out in the top of the first with a solo homer, an RBI groundout, then a two-run homer to make it 4-0. ICC answered right back in the bottom half. Madden Butler brought home a run with a sacrifice fly, then Reid Kent went opposite-field power to left for a solo shot to make it 4-2 and keep the game in shouting distance.

The problem was the next two innings. The Lakers dropped a grand slam in the second, then followed with a three-run homer in the third, forcing ICC to chase from the middle innings on.

The Indians did not fold. Cannon Graham provided the biggest jolt in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run homer to right that dragged ICC back into it and made the late innings tense again. In the ninth, Tre Gunn put one in the seats to left for a two-run shot and finished off a monster day at the plate.

Gunn was the engine, going 4-for-5 with a double, two singles, and the ninth-inning homer. ICC matched Lake Land with 16 hits, with Graham driving the middle of the order and finishing 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Brody Thompson and Jacob Pearl also posted multi-hit games as the Indians kept answering, even when the Lakers kept landing haymakers.

Game 2: No. 21 Lake Land 14, ICC 10

The nightcap somehow found another gear. ICC out-hit Lake Land again, 15-11, and nearly stole it with one massive swing inning, but the seventh turned into a gut punch.

The Lakers broke through first in the third on an RBI double. The game stayed within reach until the bottom of the sixth when ICC finally got the crooked-number inning it had been building toward. The Indians erupted for eight runs on six hits to flip the game into a 10-7 lead. The loudest swing came from Houston Green, who launched a three-run homer to right to headline the inning and put ICC in position to close.

Lake Land answered with its own flip in the top of the seventh, scoring seven runs on three hits to retake the lead at 14-10. The separator was a three-run homer to center that erased the Indians' advantage and ended up deciding it.

Kent set the tone offensively with four hits to lead ICC. Green drove in four runs from the seven spot in the order, Thompson, Jack Cummings, and Graham all delivered multi-hit games, and the Indians finished the doubleheader with 31 hits and multiple momentum swings.