Marshalltown, IA—A pair of momentum-changing innings, one in each game, set the Marshalltown Community College baseball team back two games as Iowa Western Community College took both Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) games in Friday's doubleheader. The Reivers struck late in game one for a 9-4 victory and took game two 12-4.
Sophomore Ty Russell (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park) collected four hits on the afternoon, including a home run in each game to help the Tigers stay with the No. 14 Reivers. With game one tied at four heading into the final frame, Iowa Western put together a five-run seventh to win the opener. MCC found themselves in a two-all tie in the nightcap through four innings of play, only to see the Reivers rattle off seven runs in the top of the fifth to complete the day one sweep.
The two teams will complete their four-game weekend series tomorrow afternoon at Shawn Williams Field with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 PM.
In the team's previous four meetings this season, Iowa Western won by an average of 10 runs, but the Tigers opened up Friday with a different approach as Daryl Blaskovich (Brentwood Bay, BC/Lambrick Park) and Russell hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning to put MCC up 2-1. The Reivers slowly chipped away with single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to take a two-run advantage.
Russell responded to the Reivers in the bottom half of the fifth with a two-run single to right-center, scoring Aneudis Sandoval (Manati, PR/Fernando Callejo) and Austin Allen (Milo, IA/Southeast Warren). Starting pitcher Austin Battaglia (Waukee, IA/Waukee) kept the Reivers scoreless in the sixth to keep MCC in contention, but the Reivers erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh off of reliver Kyle Herrick (Adel, IA/Adel-Desoto-Minburn) to steal the opener.
Game two had a similar feel to it as Russell blasted another first-inning home run, this time a two-run shot to score Allen and give MCC the early 2-0 lead. The Reivers answered with two runs of their own in the second and the game remained tied until the fifth. Iowa Western put its first five runners on base to start the inning to score its seven runs and build a 9-2 lead.
Sandoval gave the Tigers a brief spark with a two-run home run to left-center on the first pitch he saw, scoring Pedro Lopez (Naples, FL/Palmetto Ridge). The Reivers put the game out of reach, tacking on three more runs through the final two innings for the sweep.
