Game One Infographic Game Two Infographic
Creston, IA—An all-around dominant performance on the diamond led the Marshalltown Community College Baseball team to a pair of wins at Southwestern Community College on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers won game one 10-3 before shutting out the Spartans 10-0 in the nightcap.
The Tigers committed zero errors between the two games while sophomores Kolton Gonnerman (Centerville, IA/Centerville) and Elijah Wood (Washington, IA/Washington Community) tossed six innings each to earn the wins on the mound for MCC. On the offensive end, the Tigers pounded out 30 hits between the two games.
With the sweep, the Tigers have now won six of its last seven games against the Spartans, outscoring Southwestern 74-29 over the last four seasons. MCC improves to 12-7 overall on the 2016 campaign.
In the opener, Gonnerman was able to strand a pair of runners in the first inning. The MCC offense gave the right-handed pitcher plenty of support after that, scoring four runs in the fourth inning. Logan Holtz (Urbana, IA/Center Point-Urbana) provided the big hit, a two-run single to score Bennett Lopez (Dorado, PR/PRBA) and Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara). The Tigers added three more runs in the fourth inning as Bryan Ventura (Carolina, PR/Continental), Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat), and Holtz all collected RBI. MCC added three more runs in the fifth to round out the scoring.
Gonnerman allowed just four hits while striking out six batters to improve to 3-0 on the year. Adam Kerkove (North English, IA/English Valleys) and Trevor Swartz (Fremont, IA/Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont) closed out the game in the seventh for the Tigers.
Bennett Lopez and Enmanuel Lopez both went 3-5 in the opener while Holtz and Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) each added two in the 13-hit attack. Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) recorded a triple and two runs scored.
Wood, who had started 12 games in his career prior to Sunday's matchup, had received three runs or less of run support in 10 of those starts. The sophomore received plenty of help from the offense against the Spartans. MCC jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three innings. Ceballos drove in Holtz in the second with a single followed by an RBI-double from Enmanuel Lopez and a sacrifice fly from Holtz in the third.
After a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth, the Tigers put the game well out of reach in the seventh with four runs.
The Tigers tied a season-high with 17 hits in the win, led by three each from Enmanuel Lopez and Duran. Ventura, Bennett Lopez, Holtz, Ceballos, and Hanks all added two hits as well.
Wood struck out seven batters and allowed just three hits in the win. JJ Stephens (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) pitched a perfect seventh inning to complete the shutout.
MCC opens its 2016 home schedule with a single game against Ellsworth Community College at 2:00 PM on Tuesday afternoon at Shawn Williams Field.