Harriman, TN— Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) collected five hits and Cole Baker (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) earned his first win as a Tiger to lead the Marshalltown Community College baseball team to a Saturday split at Roane State Community College. MCC took game one 6-4 before falling 7-6 in extra innings in game two.
Duran finished the afternoon 5-9 at the plate with four RBI to pace the MCC offense. Baker, making his first collegiate start, kept the Raiders hitless until the fifth inning to pick up the win. Enmanuel Lopez (Santiatgo, Dominican Republic/Prepara), an All-Region XI shortstop in 2016, made his first pitching appearance as a Tiger and earned a two-inning save in the opener.
After splitting Friday's series opening doubleheader, the Tigers fell behind in the first inning for the third straight game as Roane State took the early 1-0 lead. In his first collegiate at bat in the second inning, freshman Adam Barrett (Council Bluffs, IA/Abraham Lincoln) roped a double to left field to score John Magnuson (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East) and Marving Serrano (Caracas, Venezuela/Ciudad Fajardo de Guatire) to give MCC the lead.
An RBI double in the fifth inning by Jalen Horton (Des Moines, IA/Hoover) scored Jose Mieses (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Prepara) to spark the offense. MCC added two more runs in the frame on RBI from Hecnuel Serrano (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Luz a Calderon) and Duran. Two runs from the Raiders in the bottom half cut into the Tiger deficit, but a one out double in the top of the seventh from Lopez led to another run for the Tigers on an RBI-single from Duran.
Baker scattered seven baserunners throughout the first four innings, but the Raider offense could not produce a hit. The sophomore left the game after five frames with three strikeouts on the day. Lopez allowed a seventh inning run but settled down to close out the game on a strikeout for the save.
Barrett and Horton both joined Duran with two hits in the win. Both of Horton's knock went for two bases and the sophomore added two runs of his own.
Roane State struck first once again in game two, scoring a run in the first and two more in the second for a 3-0 lead. The Tigers cut into the deficit with two runs in the third as Horton and Lopez crossed the plate. The Raiders doubled their lead with a run in the bottom of the third, but after a scoreless fourth for both teams, MCC erupted for four runs to take the lead.
Lopez and Duran teamed up once again after Lopez's one out double led to a run on a single from Duran to start the rally. Freshman Raymond Guerrero (Manhattan, NY/CENAPEC) provided the big knock with a two-run single to right to put MCC up 5-4. Hecnuel Serrano drove in Magnuson for the fourth run of the inning.
After tossing 4.2 innings, starting hurler Noel Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/CENAPEC) exited the game with the lead. The Raiders worked the Tiger bullpen to tie the game in the sixth inning. Despite allowing a run and walking two batters, Mieses made the most of his first appearance on the mound, ending both the sixth and seventh innings with a strikeout, including a bases loaded jam in the sixth and the winning run on third in the seventh to force extra innings.
Brok Hopwood (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) led off the eighth with a single and Lopez walked with one out, but the Tiger offense failed to take the lead, allowing the Raiders once final chance. A leadoff single followed by a three-base error on a sacrifice bunt kept the Tigers from winning the weekend series.
Duran finished game two 3-5 at the plate with a pair of RBI. The sophomore collected at least one hit in each of the four games this weekend.
The Tigers return to the Volunteer state next week for a four-game series with Motlow Community College on Friday and Saturday.
⚾ Solid showing at the plate for Luis Duran today, powering the Tigers to a split at Roane State pic.twitter.com/XZpRpip9Da
— MCC Tiger Baseball (@MCCTigers_BB) February 5, 2017
