Jamestown, NC—22 runs on 21 hits carried the Marshalltown Community College baseball team to a sweep of Guilford Technical Community College on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers rallied to win a slugfest in game one, 13-12, before taking game two 9-6 in five innings.
Game one provided plenty of offense on both sides after MCC jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Titans rallied to take a 12-11 lead. Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Repbulic/Prepara) delivered a game-tying home run in the seventh and Joel Rosauer (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East) produced the go ahead RBI to win it. The Tigers (7-4) used an early lead to hold off Guilford to complete the sweep.
Four different players had multi-hit games in the opener for MCC who finished with 14 hits in the win. Lopez's home run boosted the offense in the seventh and the sophomore closed the door with the save in the bottom half, his third of the year, to seal the victory. Freshman Max McCay (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle) went 3-3 in the nightcap with a home run and four RBI to give the Tigers the sweep.
MCC jumped all over the Titan (8-5) early on in game one with two runs in the first and another in the second. The Tigers used a seven-run third inning to take a comfortable 10-0 advantage. The third inning provided plenty of excitement after the Titans used eight runs in the bottom half to pull within two of the Tigers. After a run in the top of the fourth from MCC, Guilford responded with three in the bottom half to tie the game at 11.
The Titans took its first lead of the day in the sixth inning with a run, giving the Tigers another chance to make a late game rally. Lopez delivered a leadoff home run, his third of the year in the top of the seventh to tie the game. Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) followed up the home run with a double and came around to score on a single from Rosauer. Lopez shut the door in the seventh, sitting the Titans down in order to complete the comeback.
Duran and Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) each collected three hits and two RBI in the win while John Magnuson (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East) and Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) added two knocks. Freshman Greg Glass (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo Columbus) tossed 2.2 innings of solid relief before Lopez shut down the Titans in the final inning.
MCC built a 3-0 lead over the first two innings of game two thanks to an RBI double from Lopez and a two-run home run from McCay, his first long ball of his career. MCC went up 5-1 in the third on a two-ru double from McCay. Guilford scored three in the bottom of the third to pull within one, but the Tigers tacked on four runs in the fourth thanks to a two-run home run from Salato.
Guilford added two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but MCC starting pitcher Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Piedra Blanca, Dominican Republic/Salome Urena de Henrriquez) tossed a scoreless fifth to pick up the win in the shortened contest.
McCay led the MCC offense with his best performance as a Tiger. Lopez finished the game with a pair of doubles. Gonzalez went the distance, striking out six in the win.
The two team's wrap up their weekend series with a doubleheader on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 9:30 AM (CST).
