Marshalltown, IA- The Marshalltown Community College Baseball team came up short at home on Tuesday afternoon, falling to Iowa Central Community College 11-8 at Shawn Williams Field. Bennett Lopez (Dorado, Puerto Rico/PRBA) reached base five times for the Tigers in the loss.
Playing their first home game since March 29, the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Tritons in the opening frame after Lopez led off with a double and later scored on a single from Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara). Enmanuel Lopez scored on an RBI-single from Logan Holtz (Urbana, IA/Center Point-Urbana) for the early advantage.
The MCC defense used a pair of inning-ending double plays in the first two frames, but Iowa Central finally got on the scoreboard with two runs in the third and added another in the fifth before erupting for five runs in the sixth. Trailing 8-2, the Tigers slowly chipped away at the deficit, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Bryan Ventura (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Continental) and Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) both doubled to open the frame and Bennett Lopez and Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) added RBI-singles.
Bennett Lopez's big day continued with an RBI-double in the seventh to score Ventura and later scored on an RBI-single from Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) to pull MCC within one, 8-7.
Just as the Tigers got within striking distance, the Tritons tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning. Duran tripled to start to the bottom of the eighth, hoping to ignite the offense. The freshman scored on a ground out from Christian Jaworski (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Bloomfield Hills), but the offense stalled the rest of the way.
Bennett Lopez finished the day 3-4 at the plate with two walks, two runs, and two RBI. Duran and Hanks each collected three hits with a run and an RBI. Enmanuel Lopez, Holtz, and Ventura recorded two hits in the loss.
Despite the loss, the Tigers pounded out 16 hits, tied for the second-most this season. Freshman Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) was tagged with the loss on the mound.
The Tigers home-stand continues with a doubleheader against Kirkwood Community College at 2:00 PM on Thursday before hosting Muscatine Community College in a four-game Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) series this weekend.
