Iowa Falls, IA—Sophomore Bennett Lopez (Dorado, Puerto Rico/PRBA) connected on two of the Marshalltown Community College Baseball team's five home runs to lead the Tigers to a 13-6 victory at Ellsworth Community College on Thursday night. Freshman JJ Stephens (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) earned the win on the mound for MCC.
Having been shutout in the team's previous two games, Lopez helped the Tigers get off to a strong start with a solo home run to lead off the top of the first inning. Freshman Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) singled in the second to drive in Joel Rosauer (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East) to put MCC up 2-0.
Rosauer connected on a two-run home in the third to keep the offense alive, scoring Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) on the blast. The Panthers got a run back in the fourth but MCC answered on a run-scoring double from Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) as Logan Holtz (Urbana, IA/Center Point-Urbana) scored his first of three runs on the night.
MCC starting pitcher Noel Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/CENAPEC) had allowed just two base runners through the first three innings, but Ellsworth built off of a home run in the fourth and scored five runs in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead over the Tigers.
Stephens relieved Diaz with two outs in the fifth and kept the Panthers scoreless for 2.1 innings. Lopez propelled the Tiger offense with a three-run home run in the sixth inning to deep left field, scoring Hunter Embray (Bussey, IA/Twin Cedars) and Bryan Ventura (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Continental).
Ventura placed a perfectly timed suicide squeeze bunt in the seventh to bring Rosauer in from third, giving MCC a 9-6 lead. Salato later delivered another RBI-single, this time scoring Holtz in the eighth inning.
The offense poured it on in the ninth inning as Holtz and Ceballos delivered back-to-back home runs to complete the rout.
Along with Stephens, sophomore Colton Blackford (Des Moines, IA/Hoover) pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four batters, including three in the eighth inning alone. The tandem of Stephens and Blackford managed to allow just three hits and two walks while keeping the Panthers scoreless over the final 4.1 innings.
The offense pounded out 15 hits as all nine batters had at least one hit. Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) led the way with a 3-6 performance, including a double. Bennett Lopez, Holtz, Ceballos, and Salato each had two knocks for the Tigers.
With his two hits on Thursday, Bennett Lopez moves in to a tie for fifth place on the all-time hits list with 115 for his career.
The Tigers have now beaten Ellsworth twice this season, outscoring the Panthers 27-10 after a 14-4 victory at home on March 22.
The Tigers host Indian Hills Community College for a four-game series this weekend at Shawn Williams Field. First pitch on Saturday is set for 1:00 PM. Prior to the start of Sunday's games at 12:00 PM, 16 sophomores will be recognized for their careers at MCC.
