KOKOMO, Ind. - The IU Kokomo Baseball team picked up their seventh and eighth consecutive River States Conference victories Friday with a doubleheader sweep of IU Columbus, as the Cougars two starting pitchers each tossed complete-game shutouts to blank the Crimson Pride.

Interim Head Coach Jeremy Honaker's squad earned 5-0 and 9-0 victories on the day to improve to 9-7 in RSC action and 15-20 overall, having won nine of their last ten games.

Game One: 5-0 Win 

• The Cougars found the scoreboard in the home-half of the first, taking an early 1-0 lead. Alex Janke singled to lead off the inning, eventually scoring on a Mason Janz RBI ground-out.
• IU Kokomo added another run just one frame later, as Brayden Coffey singled before stealing second and advancing to third via passed ball, scoring on a 6-4-3 double-play to make it a 2-0 IUK lead.
• After a scoreless third inning, the Cougs pushed a run across the plate without recording a hit in the fourth inning. Coffey once again reached to lead off the frame, this time via free pass. He moved to second on a passed ball and third on a ground-out, giving the Cougars a 3-0 lead after scoring on a balk.
• The IUK offense plated two more insurance runs in the eighth, as home-run leader Jacob Medvescek hit a two-run shot, scoring Gavin Smith (2B) and making it a 5-0 ballgame heading to the ninth. 

Pitching Notables:

• Fresh off of earning RSC Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors after turning in a strong outing last weekend at Midway, junior LHP Brett Huiner twirled another gem, this time of the complete-game shutout variety. Huiner allowed no runs on just three hits and a walk in nine innings of work, striking out eight as he improved to 4-1 on the season with the win.

Game Two: 9-0 Win

• Just as they did in game one, the Cougars scored in the first inning, this time pushing two runs across the plate on two hits. The damage was done after two batters in the first, as Alex Janke led off with a HBP before Gavin Smith left the yard with a blistering homer to left center, putting IUK ahead 2-0 thru one.
• The Cougars failed to score in both the second and third, but scored an unearned run in the fourth to add on to their lead. Luke Hanson reached via E5 to open the frame before his courtesy runner Judah Hennessy stole second, advanced to third on a fly-out, and scored on a Noah Wolf sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 IUK lead.
• IU Kokomo's most productive frame of the day proved to be the fifth inning, as the Cougs slashed for five hits. Smith led off the inning with a double, scoring a batter later on a Jacob Medvescek RBI single. With one out in the inning, Brayden Coffey reached via E6, scoring Medvescek.
• Hanson would come up with an RBI single to score Mason Janz (1B), while Wolf recorded a two-RBI single, scoring Hennessy and Coffey to extend the Cougar lead to 8-0.
• The Cougs scored the final run of the game in the home-half of the sixth, with Smith reaching via error to open the inning. He would steal second and advance to third via wild pitch on the same pitch, scoring on a Medvescek RBI ground-out to make it 9-0.

Pitching Notables:

• Sophomore RHP Alec Murphy made the start on the mound in game two for IU Kokomo, following Huiner's lead as he dazzled for another complete-game shutout. Murphy earned the win to improve to 3-3 on the season, surrendering no runs on five hits and no walks, striking out seven in his seven strong innings.

Friday marked the first time in program history that two IU Kokomo pitchers have thrown complete-game shutouts in the same doubleheader, as Huiner and Murphy combined for 16 scoreless frames between games one (9 innings) and two (7 innings).

Due to weather over the course of the next couple of days, the series finale between IU Kokomo and IU Columbus will now be held at 12:00 PM this Tuesday in downtown Kokomo. As a result of this schedule change, the Cougars will no longer make the trip to the Volunteer state Wednesday to battle #2 Tennessee Wesleyan.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.