There are no easy outs in the Moline baseball lineup and the Rock Island Rocks found that out first-hand on Saturday.

The Maroons got hits from six of their nine lineup spots in the opener and eight of nine spots in the nightcap of a 12-5, 9-4 sweep of the Rocks in a battle of the Western Big 6 Conference co-leaders at Rock Island High School.

Moline is now 17-2, 6-0 in the Big 6 and the Rocks fall to 11-10, 4-2. Moline holds at least a two-game lead in the league race.

Lending the most credence to the Maroons' lineup depth was No. 8 hitter David Smith finishing the afternoon with seven hits in eight at bats.

``David is really coming alive,'' said Moline coach Derek Lindauer. ``I really liked the way we came over here and played, but I still think we have some room for improvement.

``I did like the way we hit the ball after the first six outs of the first game. I think four of those outs were flyballs and I told the guys that with the wind blowing like it was (swirling), we had to hit the ball to the right side and hit it on the ground.''

Smith wasn't alone in the hit parade for Moline. Matt Jasper returned from a couple of weeks off because of a hamstring injury to slap five singles; Jay Molina had a three-run triple in the opener and then came back in the nightcap with two singles, a double and a home run; and Eric Boster had three hits and seven RBIs in the twinbill.

It wasn't as if the Rocks didn't have their chances in either game. They left 11 runners on base in the opener and seven more in the first three innings of game two.

``They are a good team,'' said Rock Island coach Andy Campbell. ``They do what they have to do with the bats. They don't try to do too much. That's the game of baseball. We had our chances and didn't take advantage and Moline got a lot of big hits.''

In the first game, the Rocks scored four times in the first against Wayne DeSmet and still led 4-1 heading into the fifth inning. However, Rock Island starter Clayton George began to tire and Moline scored five times to take the lead. Molina's three-run triple down the right-field line capped the uprising.

``Clayton just ran out of gas and Molina hit a good pitch for a big three-run triple,'' said Campbell.

The Rocks had one of those great chances in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with none out against DeSmet, but Boster came on to get out of that jam, allowing just one run. Boster, who recorded his fourth save, held the Rocks the rest of the way and the Maroons added two in the sixth and four in the seventh against the Islander bullpen.

The teams traded runs early in the second game as Molina and Rock Island starter Steve Mumma worked their way in and out of several jams.

Rock Island missed a golden opportunity in the third, loading the bases with no outs. Marcus Youngquist (six hits in the twinbill) hit a chopper toward second that hit George, who was running from first base. That results in an out and no runners are allowed to advance. Molina then squirmed out of the inning unscathed.

``That was a huge inning,'' said Lindauer. ``The second game wasn't as lopsided as the score indicates. If they get a hit there, it's a different game.''