Centerville, IA—Playing as the home team on the road, the Marshalltown Community College baseball team split a pair of Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) games with Indian Hills Community College on Saturday. The Falcons took game one 14-0 but the Tigers rallied in the nightcap for a 10-8 victory behind a complete game from John Bloom (Laurel, IA/East Marshall).
Originally scheduled to be played at Shawn Williams Field on the MCC campus, unplayable field conditions shifted Saturday's doubleheader to Pat Daugherty Field in Centerville. MCC got off to a rocky start in game one as the Falcons scored four runs in the top of the first inning off of starting pitcher Richard England (Centerville, IA/Centerville). Indian Hills put up five runs in the second, three in the third and two in the fourth to earn the run-rule shortened game in five innings.
Making his second start against the Falcons this year, Bloom allowed single runs in the first and second innings of game two but settled down over the next three frames, sitting the Falcons down in order in each inning.
The MCC offense provided the support Bloom needed as Bennett Mann (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) connected on his conference-leading 12th home run of the year in the first inning, a three-run shot to score Daryl Blaskovich (Brentwood Bay, BC/Lambrick Park) and Ty Russell (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park).
After a Blaskovich walk with one out in the second, Russell extended the Tiger lead with a two-run home run, his seventh round-tripper of the year. Mann's power hitting was put on display again in the fourth, this time with a two-run home run to score Blaskovich, his third run of the game.
Bloom ran into trouble in the sixth inning as the first six batters reached base. The Falcons scored six runs in the inning to tie the game at eight. In the bottom half of the inning, Blaskovich reversed roles as the sophomore drove in Parker Rolfes (Le Mars, IA/Le Mars) and Austin Allen (Milo, IA/Southeast Warren) on a double that proved to be the game-winning hit.
Bloom bounced back in the final inning and sat all three Falcon batters down in a row to earn his fourth win of the year. Both wins over Indian Hills for Bloom this year have come in the second game of a doubleheader to salvage a split. The sophomore struck out five batters in the win.
While MCC has already locked up the No. 3 seed in next week's Region XI Division I Tournament, Indian Hills entered the day tied for first with Iowa Western Community College. The Reivers moved one game ahead of the Falcons with a sweep over Muscatine Community College on Saturday.
With improved field conditions, MCC and the Falcons will complete their four game series at Shawn Williams Field tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM.
