Marshalltown, IA—A late rally from Indian Hills Community College in game two of Tuesday's doubleheader led to an afternoon sweep of the Marshalltown Community College baseball team at Shawn Williams Field. MCC fell 8-1 in game two and dropped the nightcap 6-3.
After falling in game one, the Tigers (18-28/7-13) put up three runs in the first inning of game two and used a stellar pitching performance from Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) to maintain the lead. The Falcons (30-16/11-9) saved their timely hitting for the seventh inning, scoring four runs in the final frame with two outs to drop MCC.
21 sophomores were honored prior to Tuesday's twinbill as part of Sophomore Day at MCC. The sophomore class has combined to win 52 games over the past two seasons.
MCC managed just one run on four hits in the opening game. That run came in the bottom of the first inning as Ceballos drove in Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat). The Tiger offense cooled from there as the team did not gain a baserunner until the sixth inning and left three runners stranded to end the game.
Peyton Stephens (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle) got the start on the mound for the Tigers. The freshman recorded the first eight outs of the game by way of strikeout.
It was MCC that struck first in game two. With the bases loaded in the first inning, freshman Adam Barrett (Council Bluffs, IA/Abraham Lincoln) delivered an infield single and a costly throwing error from the Falcons cleared the bags for a 3-0 Tiger lead.
Indian Hills got a run back in the third and added another in the fifth to pull within one. MCC failed to produce more scoring opportunities down the stretch and ultimately cost the Tigers as the Falcons scored four runs in the top of the seventh to steal the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) contest from the home team.
Duran added a hit in the nightcap to extend his current hitting streak to 13 games. Barrett finished the game with a pair of hits after a knock in the first game and is batting .409 over his last seven games for the Tigers.
Ceballos went 4.1 on the mound in the no decision. Noel Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/CENAPEC) came in and tossed 1.2 innings of perfect work without allowing a baserunner.
MCC travels to Iowa Western Community College for the regular season finale this weekend. The four-game set opens up Saturday afternoon in Council Bluffs.
Gameday! It's Sophomore Day at Shawn Williams Field as @MCCTigers_BB hosts @IHCCBaseball at 2:00 PM. Live stats: https://t.co/j4Iv5ICel3 pic.twitter.com/hZXo12g0TA
— Marshalltown Tigers (@MCC_ATH) May 2, 2017
