Marshalltown, IA—The Marshalltown Community College baseball team fell twice to No. 14 Iowa Western Community College at home on Saturday afternoon by scores of 8-4 and 13-4. The Tigers fall to 17-26 overall and 5-11 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play.
In the first two games of the four-game series against the Reivers, the Tigers managed to hold an early lead. Saturday proved to be a different start between the two teams as Iowa Western jumped out to a 6-0 lead through the first two innings, scoring five runs in the first frame. The Reivers tacked on two more in the top of the fourth, but the Tigers answered with three runs in the bottom half.
Bennett Mann (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) put the Tigers on the board with a two-run home run, his 10th of the year, scoring Eric Kent (Fort Madison, IA/Fort Madison) on the play. Pedro Lopez (Naples, FL/Palmetto Ridge) gave the Tigers their third run, scoring on a double from Aneudis Sandoval (Manati, PR/Fernando Callejo). The Tigers attempted a late-game rally as Colin Schroeder (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) scored on a double from Kent, but MCC stranded two runners in scoring position to end the game.
Sandoval and Ryan Thrasher (Sherwood Park, AB/St. Francis Xavier) each collected two hits in the opener. Richard England (Centerville, IA/Centerville) was tagged with the loss on the mound.
John Bloom (Laurel, IA/East Marshall) was called upon for his second start in seven days. The Reivers scored a run in the top of the first, but the MCC offense gave Bloom a cushion with three runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead. Mann and Thrasher both scored on a misplayed ball in the outfield and Alexis Melendez (San Juan, PR/IBA) drove in Sandoval to put the Tigers up 3-1.
Another costly inning for the Tiger defense proved to be the team's downfall again as Iowa Western scored six runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead for good. Melendez connected on his second home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth for the final Tiger run.
