Wentworth, NC—The Marshalltown Community College baseball team wasted no time displaying their offensive power as the Tigers combined to score 26 runs in the team's season-opening doubleheader sweep at Rockingham Community College on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in game one and held off the Eagles 11-6. MCC needed only five innings in game two as the Tigers defeated Rockingham 15-5 in a run-rule shortened contest. This is the second year the Tigers made the trek to Wentworth, NC to take on Rockingham, defeating the Eagles 5-2 in 2015.
Freshman Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Piedra Blanca, Dominican Republic/Salome nUrena de Hernriquez) earned his first career win in game one, going six innings for the victory. Austin Gridley (Fairfield, IA/Fairfield) struck out eight batters in just four innings in game two, allowing two hits for the win.
MCC's offense was led by an array of hitters, as four hitters posted multi-hit games in the opener, followed by five more in game two.
Engel Rosario (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/CENAPEC) homered in game one, the second consecutive year the sophomore has homered in the season opener. Bryan Ventura (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Continental) went 4-5 with three doubles and two runs scored. Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic / Centro de Estudio Espaillat) collected three hits and Bennett Lopez (Dorado, Puerto Rico/PRBA) added two more.
Game two saw freshman Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic / Prepara) go 3-3 with six RBI. Freshman Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) went 4-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI. The first five batters in the lineup went a combined 11-17 in the rout.
The two teams resume play on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 11:00 AM (CDT).
