Marshalltown, IA—Sophomore Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) went 4-4 at the plate to lead a strong offensive attack for the Marshalltown Community College baseball team as the Tigers topped Ellsworth Community College 10-7 at Shawn Williams Field on Thursday afternoon. The Tigers extended their current winning streak to five games with the win.
Duran collected four hard-hit singles to give him 98 career hits for the Tigers. Freshman Max McCay (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle) went 2-4 and Kaleb Hanks (Sioux City, IA/Sioux City East) added a pair of RBI. Freshman Greg Glass (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo Columbus) earned his second-career win on the mound for MCC.
Coming off of a four-game weekend sweep of Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) foe Southwestern Community College, the Tigers jumped all over Ellsworth with four runs in the first inning, including an RBI-single from Duran to score Jose Mieses (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Prepara).
MCC tacked on three more runs in the third inning after an RBI-single from Adam Barrett (Council Bluffs, IA/Abraham Lincoln) and a two-run double from Hanks.
Glass contained the Panthers through 3.1 innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits. MCC extended its marginal lead to 10-1 after RBI-doubles from Enmanuel Lopez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) and McCay in the fourth inning.
Ellsworth slowly chipped away at the deficit down the stretch. The lead dwindled to five in the sixth inning, but a highlight-reel barehanded grab from Mieses up the middle ended the frame with two runners left in scoring position.
Freshmen Peyton Stephens (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle), Tryston Durham (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle), and Barrett combined to strike out seven batters in 5.1 innings of relief work. Lopez earned his fourth save of the year after getting the only batter he faced to fly out to end the game.
The Tigers return to conference play with a four-game series at Indian Hills Community College on Saturday and Sunday.
Who says you need a glove? ⚾ pic.twitter.com/LncX1mGEEj
— MCC Tiger Baseball (@MCCTigers_BB) April 7, 2017
