Neosho, MO—The Marshalltown Community College baseball team squandered a late lead against Crowder College as the Roughriders swept the four-game set with two wins, 6-1 and 12-11, on Sunday afternoon. Ryan Thrasher (Sherwood Park, AB/St. Francis Xavier) hit a home run in each game.
After a sluggish start to the day, scoring just one run on three hits in the opener, the Tigers bounced back in game two with an offensive onslaught. In the top of the first, Thrasher delivered an RBI-single to score Bennett Lopez (Dorado, PR/PRBA) and Pedro Lopez (Naples, FL/Naples) later scored on a wild pitch for an early 2-0 lead.
The Tiger offense continued to thrive in the second, scoring four more runs for a 6-0 lead. After two straight outs to open the inning, Bennett Lopez delivered an RBI-triple, scoring Trevor Swartz (Fremont, IA/Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont). Pedro Lopez then singled to score Bennett Lopez, and Thrasher provided a third straight hit, a two-run home run to give the Tigers an early cushion.
The margin was short lived as Crowder scored five runs over the next two innings to cut the lead to one. In the fifth inning, Anderson Villarroel (Caracas, Venezuela/U.E. Santisima Caridad) doubled to score Brett Braida (Chariton, IA/Chariton), Colin Schroeder (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) singled to score Hunter Embray (Knoxville, IA/Twin Cedars) and Swartz drove in Villarroel on a ground out as MCC took a 9-5 lead. A four-run fifth from the Roughriders tied the game back up at nine, but Thrasher smacked a double in the sixth to score Pedro Lopez and Manny Gaspard (Papillion, NE/Papillion South) later scored on an Embray sacrifice fly for a two-run edge.
Crowder cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom half of the sixth, and tied the game with a bases loaded walk in the seventh. A one out single gave the Roughriders their second walk-off in as many days against the Tigers.
Thrasher finished the nightcap 3-4 at the plate with four RBI. Pedro Lopez and Villarroel each collected two hits in the loss. Wyatt Stark (Mt. Pleasant, IA/Fairfield) made his first-career start, going 5.2 innings and Chris Thompson (South Sioux City, NE/Papillion-La Vista South) was tagged with the loss.
Thrasher provided the lone bright spot in game one, homering in the seventh inning for the Tigers' only run. Thrasher finished with three home runs in the weekend series against Crowder. Elijah Wood (Washington, IA/Washington Community) went four innings in his first-career start on the mound.
MCC is back in action next weekend with a four-game series against cross-division opponent Ellsworth Community College. Location for the series is to be determined.
