Neosho, MO—Frigid temperatures were no match for warm bats on Monday afternoon. Unfortunately the Marshalltown Community College baseball team's offense was not as hot as No. 12 Crowder College, dropping a 13-5 contest to the Roughriders. MCC fell to 7-9 on the year with the loss.
With temperatures hovering below freezing, the Tigers came out swinging with four runs in the top of the first. Crowder (19-5) responded with seven runs in the home half and ran away with the game. The loss sent the Tigers to their fifth straight defeat and third of the weekend after dropping a pair of games in Neosho on Sunday.
Sophomore Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) continued his tear at the plate, going 2-4 with a two-run double. Lopez upped his team-leading batting average to .423 and ranks ninth in the nation with a .904 slugging percentage. Freshman Carter Eldridge (West Des Moines, IA/Waukee) added a pair of RBI with a first inning single.
The Tigers were originally scheduled to play a doubleheader on Monday, but the team's second game of the day against Iowa Central Community College was called off due to low temperatures.
Monday's affair opened with back-to-back singles from Jalen Horton (Des Moines, IA/Hoover) and Jose Mieses (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Prepara) before Lopez drilled a 1-0 pitch to the left center gap for a 2-0 lead. Eldridge found space in the right center gap to double the lead for the Tigers.
Crowder exceeded the Tigers' production with seven runs on five hits in the first frame. MCC got a run back in the third inning thanks to a leadoff triple from Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) and an RBI-groundout from Adam Barrett (Council Bluffs, IA/Abraham Lincoln).
The offense slowed from there for MCC, putting just three base runners on the rest of the way. Sophomore Noel Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/CENAPEC) relieved starter Cole Baker (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) and tossed a scoreless second and third innings before Crowder added two runs in the fourth and another in the sixth. The Roughriders added three more in the eighth to end the game by way of run rule.
MCC is set to open its home schedule with a four-game series against Milwaukee Area Technical College on Saturday and Sunday at Shawn Williams Field, weather pending.
