Marshalltown, IA—Looking to salvage an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) split with Muscatine Community College, head coach Rich Grife called upon John Bloom (Laurel, IA/East Marshall) again to carry the Tigers. The sophomore delivered with a complete game 3-2 win to give the Marshalltown Community College baseball team game two of Friday's twinbill. The Cardinals won game one 5-0.
Making his third straight conference start, Bloom held the Cardinals scoreless through the first four frames of game two. After failing to score in the opener, the Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings of play. Daryl Blaskovich (Brentwood Bay, BC/Lambrick Park) delivered a sacrifice fly and Ty Russell (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park) connected on a solo home run in the next at bat to put MCC up 2-0 after one inning. Pedro Lopez (Naples, FL/Palmetto Ridge) scored on a groundout from Alexis Melendez (San Juan, PR/IBA) in the second for the three-run edge.
Bloom was able to evade trouble on multiple occasions, inducing three double-plays, including one each in the fifth and sixth innings. The righty struck out three batters in the complete game to pick up his second win of the year.
The Tiger bats fell silent in the opener as MCC struck out 15 times agaihnst the Muscatine pitching staff. Eric Kent (Fort Madison, IA/Fort Madison) recorded the lone hit for the Tigers. Richard England (Centerville, IA/Centerville) was tagged with the loss.
Friday's game two win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Tigers. MCC sits in third place in the league standings with a 6-12 mark and are now 18-28 overall.
The two teams resume play tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader at 12:00 PM at Shawn Williams Field.
