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Following a 5-1 record last week, the Marshalltown Community College Baseball team was rewarded with a pair of Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) honors. Freshman Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Piedra Blanca, Dominican Republic/Salome Urena de Henrriquez) was named the ICCAC Pitcher of the Week while Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) earned ICCAC Player of the Week recognition.
Gonzalez dominated batters all week long on the mound as the freshman allowed just one unearned run in 11 innings of work. In an 8-0 win over Southwestern Community College on March 29, Gonzalez tossed six innings while allowing just three hits and racked up seven strikeouts. Gonzalez upped his performance in an 11-1 win over Muscatine Community College on April 3, earning his first-career conference victory. The freshman struck out a career-high 10 batters while allowing just one hit in the win.
Gonzalez has been a consistent force in the dominant MCC pitching staff. The freshman currently leads the ICCAC in wins (5), saves (2), strikeouts (54), strikeouts/game (14.16), and earned run average (1.57). Gonzalez also ranks sixth in the nation in strikeouts/game while his earned run average ranks 12th in the country.
The Tigers have now earned three ICCAC Pitcher of the Week honors this year after sophomore Kolton Gonnerman (Centerville, IA/Centerville) earned the recognition twice earlier in the season.
Lopez garnered his second ICCAC Player of the Week accolade this year after another strong presence at the plate throughout the week. Lopez, currently riding a nine-game hitting streak, batted .571 (12-21) in six games last week. The freshman connected on four home runs and drove in 10 runs while scoring eight more. Lopez added a pair of three hit games against conference foe Muscatine, including two home runs in the series finale as MCC went 3-1 to open league play.
Lopez currently ranks fourth in the nation with a .518 batting average while his .606 on base percentage ranks fifth and his .871 slugging percentage ranks 19th. Lopez leads the ICCAC in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs (7), walks (19), and ranks second with 36 RBI.
The Tigers' road game at North Iowa Area Community College, originally scheduled for 3:00 PM on Thursday, has been postponed. Next up for MCC is a four-game home series with Iowa Western Community College in ICCAC action. First pitch of the series is set for 1:00 PM Saturday afternoon at Shawn Williams Field.
