The Indianola baseball team survived an extra innings battle with Pella Christian Friday on the road in a Little Hawkeye Conference matchup 10-9 in 9 innings heard live on 94.3 KNIA. The Indians scored two runs in the first, another two in the third, and then five in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead and seemingly take full control of the contest.

The Eagles did anything but go away quietly however, as they had the first nine batters of the fifth inning reach base and eventually plated seven to get within two 9-7. Indianola threatened for insurance runs late, but it was the Eagles that pushed two across with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on an Indians error to force extra innings.

The Indians finally pushed a run across in the ninth to take the lead, and shut the door on the Eagles to earn the 10-9 win.

Indians head coach Jon Fitzpatrick said the team needs to play much more like they did in innings 1-4 if they want to continue to pick up wins and compete for a conference title, and gives full credit to the Eagles with their refusal to give up.

Eagles coach Braden Shull said he told the guys nights like Friday night are why the scoreboard shouldn’t matter on how hard you should play, and how you should always play to your fullest and give yourself a chance to win.

Indianola improves to 17-7 and 10-2 in conference play and will travel to DCG on Monday, while Pella Christian is now 5-12 and 1-10 and travels to Grinnell on Monday.