Cedar Rapids, IA—Sophomore Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) collected four hits and six RBI on Tuesday afternoon but was not enough for the Marshalltown Community College baseball team as the Tigers dropped both games to Kirkwood Community College. The Eagles won game one 10-5 and took the nightcap 7-5.
Duran went 1-3 in the opener with three RBI and delivered three hits, including a three-run home run in the first inning of game two. The sophomore has tallied at least one hit and one RBI in seven of the team's last eight games and is hitting .520 during the stretch.
Cole Baker (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) got the start in game and held the Eagles scoreless through three innings. Kirkwood got on the board with six runs in the fourth to pull away from the Tigers. Duran singled in the sixth to drive in two and added a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but the Eagles held on for the victory.
Jose Mieses (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Prepara) added two hits in the loss, including a triple, to go along with a run and an RBI.
Duran's three-run blast gave the Tigers a first inning lead in game two. After a Kirkwood run in the third, Mieses singled to score Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East). Both sides traded runs in the next two at bats as Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) drove in Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) for a 5-2 lead.
Kirkwood erupted for four runs in the bottom of the fifth and added one in the sixth. The Tigers left three runners stranded over the past two innings to fall in game two.
The Tigers host Iowa Western Community College for a four-game Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) series on Saturday and Sunday at Shawn Williams Field.
