The sweep gave the Trojans a five-game winning streak and, with a 10-6 record, assured them of their first winning season in three years.

"The guys are pretty excited about that," said Trojan head coach Phil Oelke. "You can see it in their eyes that they really want it."

Soggy field conditions in Marion prompted the games to be moved to Memorial Field in Hillsboro, where the Warriors played as the "home" team.

The Trojans won the first game, 15-3, behind a 17-hit attack and the three-hit pitching of Daniel Jost.

But Game 2 started as a pitching duel between Hillsboro's Adam Scheele and Marion's Cody Weerts.

Hillsboro scored in the first inning when Jost led off with a single, stole second and came home a single by Chad Hughbanks. The Trojans went up 2-0 in the second on a single and stolen base by Troy Frick, who eventually scored on an error.

Behind the pitching of Scheele, Hillsboro maintained that lead until the bottom of the fourth, when the Warriors exploded for five runs.

Clinton Jeffrey, Calvin Jeffrey and Aaron Burnett led off with consecutive singles for one run. One out later, Weerts drove in Jeffrey and Burnett with a single. Derek Benson and David DeForest also contributed run-scoring singles before Frick, who relieved Scheele, finally got the third out of the inning.

"Scheele was having a real tough time with his off-speed pitch, so he went with the fastball and just tried to place it," Oelke said. "He actually pitched pretty well through three innings, but they started timing his fastball in the fourth."

Hillsboro responded to its 5-2 deficit with one run in the top of the fifth when Hughbanks was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a double by Scheele and scored on a ground out by Justin Moore.

Leading 5-3, Weerts seemed top be in position to nail down the victory after he retired the Trojans without incident in the sixth.

But with Weerts facing a mandated limit on innings, coach Shaun Craft was forced to pull him for the final inning.

The Trojans greeted reliever Clinton Jeffrey with a walk to Hughbanks. After Scheele fouled out, Moore doubled and Frick singled home Hughbanks. Travis Riesen followed with a two-run single that proved to be the winning hit when Frick (4-2) put the Warriors down in order in the bottom of the seventh.

"We knew were going to face Weerts in Game 2, and he is an awesome pitcher," Oelke said. "He pretty well owned us until they took him out. My hat's off to him.

"My hat's off to our guys, too, because we could have easily folded in that situation. Our seniors really took control of the game after (Marion) got those runs."

Game 1, meanwhile, was close for two innings. A lead-off double by Moore in the second inning and a single by Frick had given Hillsboro a meager 1-0 lead against Calvin Jeffrey.

But with one out in the third, Jost and Hughbanks singled, and Scheele brought Jost home on a ground-ball out. Moore, Frick and Riesen followed with consecutive singles before Lucas Hamm cleared the bases with a triple.

Trailing 6-0, Marion touched Jost for two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Burnett walked to lead off. Jost retired the next two hitters before plunking Benson. Weerts and Calvin Jeffrey followed with singles to cut the lead to 6-2.

But Hillsboro blew the game open in its next at-bat, scoring nine times on three walks and seven hits. Alex Nuss contributed a single and a double during the rally while Aaron Stepanek, Moore, Frick, Jost and Hughbanks each added a single.

Marion scored one last run in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Woodruff and a run-scoring double by Burnett. But Jost (2-0) retired the next two batters to nail down the run-rule victory.

The Trojan freshman allowed only four hits, struck out three and walked two in six innings.

"The guys played really well," Oelke said. "In Game 1, we pretty well did what we needed to do in all phases of the game. We had only one error and Jost threw really well.

"We had 17 hits and could have had a couple more, but (Marion) made some plays they needed to make."

For the day, Frick finished 6-for-8 with three RBIs and four runs scored to pace an effective Trojan attack.

Hillsboro vs. Haven

The final scores were identical, and neither game went the full seven innings, but Hillsboro's two 12-1 victories last Tuesday at Haven followed very different story lines.

In Game 2, the Trojans pounded 18 hits on the way to a run-rule victory in six innings.

Hillsboro built its lead slowly, starting with a single run in the first inning driven in by Troy Frick. A double by Adam Scheele drove in both Hillsboro runs in the second inning. In the third, Daniel Jost ripped a two-run double and Chad Hughbanks drove him home with a single for a 6-0 lead.

After a scoreless fourth, Hillsboro sealed the win with four runs in the fifth. Jost drove in one with a triple and Hughbanks brought him home with a sacrifice fly. After Scheele singled, Moore ripped a two-run homer for a 10-0 Trojan lead.

In the sixth inning, Lucas Hamm drove in Hillsboro's 11th run with a single and Scheele got the final RBI on a ground out.

Scheele finished with four hits in five at-bats. He drove in three runs and scored one. Jost went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Starting pitcher Frick (3-2) picked up the win, throwing 32⁄3 shutout innings. The junior allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out three.

"Frick threw pretty well," coach Phil Oelke said. "He beaned three kids, but other than that he was really on and threw a lot of strikes. He saw only 14 batters in 32⁄3 innings."

Daniel Berg pitched one inning in relief and allowed Haven's only run. Gavin Serene threw the final 12⁄3 innings without allowing a hit or a walk.

In the opener, the Trojans managed only five hits but took advantage of the Wildcats' erratic play to nail down a five-inning, run-rule victory.

Haven pitcher A. Nellans walked seven Trojans and hit three more in five innings. He and his teammates combined for seven errors that resulted in nine unearned runs.

Four of the errors came in the second inning and led to three Hillsboro runs.

After a scoreless third inning, the Trojans erupted for five more runs in the fourth-without a single base hit. Nellans walked four batters and hit two before it was over.

A walk to Hamm and singles by Jost, Hughbanks, Scheele and Frick led to a four-run fifth inning and a 12-1 final margin that held up when starter Travis Riesen (3-1) struck out two of three batters to end the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Riesen finished with a four-hitter, struck out seven and walked only two batters, but Oelke said the right-hander didn't have his best game.

"When you look at his ball-strike ratio, he's about 50-50," Oelke said. "But defensively, we played probably our two best games of the year. We had one error between the two games."

With the two wins, Hillsboro (8-6) finished the day above .500 for the first time in three seasons.

Coming-Regardless of the results of their doubleheader scheduled against Halstead on Tuesday, the Trojans appear to have nailed down the No. 4 seed in the regional tournament, which begins Monday.

It appears Hillsboro will play No. 5 seeded Wichita Collegiate at Southeast of Saline beginning at 4:30 p.m.

The winner of the game will turn around and play Southeast for a chance to play in the tournament finals on Wednesday.