Marshalltown, IA—The Marshalltown Community College baseball team ended its week-long trip to North Carolina with a sweep over Guilford Technical Community College, dropping the Titans 7-5 and 8-1 in the nightcap. The Tigers finish their trip with a 4-4 record after taking all three games against the Titans and are now 6-6 on the year.
Ryan Thrasher (Sherwood Park, AB/St. Francis Xavier) powered the MCC offense in both games, collecting three hits in the doubleheader while driving in four runs and scoring three times. The freshman connected on his first career home run in game one. Bennett Mann (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) continued to display his offensive power as the sophomore hit his fourth home run of the year, all within the last six games. Ty Russell (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park) also delivered his first home run of the season as the Tigers pounded out 21 hits in the two games.
Game one saw the Tigers open up with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning but the Titans scored two in the bottom half and added one run in the second to take a one-run advantage. The Tigers put up another two-spot in the fourth only to see Guilford score two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. The Tigers finally regained the lead with two runs in the fifth inning and added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Kyle Herrick (Adel, IA/Adel-Desoto-Minburn) pitched two scoreless innings for his first save of the year.
Eric Kent (Fort Madison, IA/Fort Madison) went 3-3 for the Tigers, including a double and scored one run. Daryl Blaskovich (Brentwood Bay, BC/Lambrick Park) went 2-3 at the plate and also doubled.
Danny Smith (Oyens, IA/Remsen Union) led a strong pitching performance for MCC in game two, picking up his first win of the season. The freshman scattered six hits over 4 2/3 innings of work while striking out three. Chris Thompson (Sioux Falls, SD) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in his first appearance of the year.
Mann doubled and homered for the Tigers in the victory and now has six extra base hits on the year. Russell delivered a solo shot and reached base in all four at bats. Aneudis Sandoval (Manati, PR/Fernando Callejo) and Parker Rolfes (Le Mars, IA/Le Mars) each collected two hits for MCC while Blaskovich went 2-4 with one run, one RBI, and two stolen bases.
The Tigers return to Marshalltown and will have a week off before travelling to Crowder College for a four-game series March 1-2.
