Kinston, NC—After two straight days of postponements, the Marshalltown Community College baseball team found its way onto the baseball field and earned a split with Lenoir Community College on Monday afternoon. The Tigers dropped game one 4-1 but rallied in game two for an 8-2 victory. Aneudis Sandoval (Manati, PR/Fernando Callejo) recorded five hits and drove in three runs on the day.
MCC (3-3) recorded its third straight split to open the 2014 season against the Lancers. Sandoval drove in the only run in game one on a fourth-inning double, scoring Daryl Blaskovich (Brentwood Bay, BC/Lambrick Park) to put the Tigers up 1-0 early on. The Lancers responded with a four-run sixth inning and held MCC scoreless over the final three frames to take the opener.
Blaskovich, Sandoval, and Ty Russell (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park) were the only Tigers to record a hit in the opening game. Alex McCune (Johnston, IA/Johnston) took the loss for MCC, allowing two earned runs on six hits. John Bloom (Laurel, IA/East Marshall) worked two innings of relief for the Tigers.
The MCC bats continued to stay cold through the first four frames of game two as Lenoir took a 2-0 lead with a run in both the first and fourth innings. The Tiger offense came alive in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs in the inning to pull ahead. MCC added insurance runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to secure the victory.
Richard England (Centerville, IA/Centerville) earned his first collegiate win on the mound, allowing just one hit in four innings of work while striking out two. Kyle Herrick (Adel, IA/Adel-Desoto-Minburn) pitched three scoreless innings of relief.
Sandoval was a perfect 4-4 at the dish to go with one run and two RBI. Russell and Parker Rolfes (Le Mars, IA/Le Mars) each collected two hits in the contest. Five different Tigers had at least one hit and one run to propel the Tigers to the split.
MCC will continue its southern trip with a doubleheader against Pitt Community College (NC) set to begin at 2:00 PM tomorrow afternoon.
