Joplin, MO—Kyle Herrick (Adel, IA/Adel-Desoto-Minburn) tossed 3.1 innings of relief to pick up his first win of the year for the Marshalltown Community College baseball team as the Tigers split a pair of games with Ellsworth Community College. MCC fell 4-1 in game one but came from behind to earn a 6-4 game two victory.
After falling in the opener, Sophomore Richard England (Centerville, IA/Centerville) got the start in game two for the Tigers (7-11). England scattered three hits and struck out seven batters but exited in the fifth inning trailing the Panthers 3-2. Herrick entered the game with the bases loaded and got a strike out to end the threat.
Ellsworth went up 4-2 with a run in the top of the sixth, but Pedro Lopez (Naples, FL/Palmetto Ridge) blasted a double to deep centerfield to spark a rally for the Tigers. Daryl Blaskovich (Brentwood Bay, BC/Lambrick Park), who had three of the team's six hits in the opening game ripped a single up the middle to score Drayson Lum (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park) and give MCC a 5-4 lead.
Herrick allowed just one hit over the next two innings to cool the ECC bats. Lum added an insurance run in the eighth on a Colin Schroeder (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) single and John Bloom (Laurel, IA/East Marshall) sat the Panthers down in order for a perfect ninth inning to earn the save.
After a 3-4 performance in the opener, Blaskovich tacked on two more hits in the nightcap to boost his average to a team-leading .386. Lum, making his first appearance in six games, made an immediate impact, going 3-4 at the dish with two runs scored and one RBI. Seven different Tigers recorded a hit in the win.
Herrick allowed just two hits in 3.1 innings of work while striking out two to propel MCC to victory.
The MCC offense was slow to get started in the opener, but Alex McCune (Johnston, IA/Johnston) kept the Tigers in the game, keeping the Panthers off the scoreboard for the first three innings. The Panthers scored three in the fourth inning and added a run in the sixth to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
The Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth but managed to score just one run as Aneudis Sandoval (Manati, PR/Fernando Callejo) came in on a walk to Lopez. Prince De Marco (Chicago, IL/Agricultural Sciences) pitched two innings of relief, not allowing a hit in the effort.
The two teams resume play at the Joplin Sports Complex tomorrow afternoon with first pitch of the doubleheader set for 1:00 PM.
