Marshalltown, IA—Costly errors in game one and runners left on base in game two led to a pair of losses for the Marshalltown Community College Baseball team on Saturday, falling to the Indian Hills Community College Falcons at Shawn Williams Field. Indian Hills took game one 9-6 and finished the sweep with a 5-2 win in the nightcap.
The Tigers committed six errors in the opening game that led to six unearned runs. In game two, MCC left 15 runners on base, including four innings with bases loaded.
The Tigers fall to 10-12 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play and slip to third place in the league while the Falcons improve to 11-11 to move into second place. The two teams will wrap up conference play on Sunday afternoon with second place on the line in the final standings. Iowa Western Community College sits in first place at 18-4 while Muscatine Community College is fourth at 5-17.
MCC struck first with a run in the first inning of game one as Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) scored on an RBI-single Joel Rosauer (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East). The Falcons took advantage of a two-out error in the second inning to score four unearned runs.
Indian Hills took a 6-1 lead in the third before Rosauer crossed the plate on an RBI from Hunter Embray (Bussey, IA/Twin Cedars). Rosauer continued to carry the Tigers with a solo home run in the fifth as MCC trailed 6-3.
The Falcons tacked on a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh for a six-run advantage. The Tigers made things interesting in the seventh, scoring three runs and loading the bases with two outs. Bennett Lopez (Dorado, Puerto Rico/PRBA) came to bat and sent a pitch to the warning track in deep left field but just missed walking the Tigers off with a grand slam to end the game.
Rosauer finished the game 3-4 with three runs and three RBI while Enmanuel Lopez, Bryan Ventura (Carolina/Puerto Rico/Continental) and Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) added two hits for the Tigers. Freshman Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Piedra Blanca, Dominican Republic/Salome Urena de Henrriquez) struck out six batters and allowed just two earned runs but was tagged with the loss.
Indian Hills used seven hits in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead over the Tigers. The MCC offense had plenty of chances through the opening innings, but left nine runners on base through the first four frames. The Tigers finally got on the board in the fifth with a pair of runs, and threatened in the final inning. MCC loaded the bases with one out but failed to plate a run as the Tigers went down for their second loss of the day.
First pitch is set for 12:00 PM on Sunday between the two teams. Prior to the start of Sunday's doubleheader, 16 members of the team will be recognized as part of Sophomore Day at Shawn Williams Field.
