Marshalltown, IA—The Marshalltown Community College baseball team split a pair of Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) games at home with Southwestern Community College on Sunday, taking game one 8-6 before falling in game two 6-2.
MCC took an early lead against the Spartans in the opener after RBI singles from Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) and Carter Eldridge (West Des Moines, IA/Waukee) in the first inning. MCC added three runs in the second, including a run-scoring base hit from Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) for a 5-2 lead.
Southwestern tied the game at six in the sixth inning, but the Tigers took advantage of three walks in the bottom half to score two runs and jump ahead. Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) recorded his league-leading fifth save of the year with a scoreless seventh.
Sophomore Brett Braida (Chariton, IA/Chariton) earned the win in game one after coming in for relief of starting pitcher Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Piedra Blanca, Dominican Republic/Salome Urena de Henrriquez). Gonzalez struck out eight batters in 5.2 innings of work and now leads the ICCAC with 63 punchouts on the year.
After two scoreless innings from both sides in game two, the Spartans built a 6-0 lead over the next two frames to stake a marginal lead. Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) doubled and scored in the fifth inning and Ceballos came around the score in the seventh, but the Tigers could not overcome the deficit.
Freshman Marving Serrano (Caracas, Venezuela/Ciudad Fajardo de Guatire) collected three hits on the day, including a pair of doubles for the Tigers. Sophomore Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) added four hits on the afternoon for MCC.
Sophomore Brett Braida (Chariton, IA/Chariton) earned the win in game one after coming in for relief of starting pitcher
The Tigers and Spartans complete their weekend conference series with a doubleheader at 12:00 PM on Sunday.
