Council Bluffs, IA—The Marshalltown Community College baseball team struggled to get things going offensively on Saturday as Iowa Western Community College took a pair of Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) games from MCC 5-1 and 8-1 at Doc Ross Field.
Playing for the first time since March 15, the Tigers (8-14, 0-2) opened up their 2014 conference schedule with a doubleheader against the Reivers (24-5, 2-0), ranked No. 15 in this week's NJCAA Division I Poll.
In game one, the Tigers held Iowa Western scoreless through the first four frames but failed to produce a run themselves. MCC finally hit pay dirt in the top of the fifth to take the initial lead. Sophomore Bennett Mann (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) started the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a Ryan Thrasher (Sherwood Park, AB/St. Francis Xavier) double, the team's first hit of the afternoon. Eric Kent (Fort Madison, IA/Fort Madison), playing in his first game since March 1, delivered a sacrifice fly to put MCC on the board.
The Reivers responded with a series of extra base hits in their next at bat to take control with a 3-1 advantage. All five Iowa Western runs were scored in the fifth as MCC managed just one hit in the game.
Iowa Western struck first in game two with a three-run third inning to jump ahead of the Tigers. Drayson Lum (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park) delivered an RBI single in the fifth, but the Reivers put together their second five-run inning of the afternoon in the sixth to go up 8-1 and finish off the sweep.
The two teams square off tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader at Doc Ross Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 PM.