Marshalltown, IA—Despite outhitting Southwestern Community College in each game on Sunday afternoon, the Marshalltown Community College baseball team dropped both contests to the Spartans at Shawn Williams Field. MCC fell 8-5 in game one and 8-4 in game two.
Sophomore Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) starred at the plate for the Tigers in each game, collecting a total of five hits, including three home runs. Duran, currently on an eight-game hitting streak, finished the four-game weekend series with the Spartans 9-14 at bat with six RBI. His .417 batting average currently ranks third in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) and leads the league with nine home runs on the year.
The Spartans staked a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one. Jose Mieses (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Prepara) singled and scored in the first to get MCC on the board. Trailing 4-2 in the third, the Tigers turned to Duran who unloaded for a two-run home run to tie the game.
The game remained deadlocked at four until the seventh inning where Southwestern plated four runs in the top half to pull away. Duran delivered a solo home run in the seventh, but the Tigers failed to claw their way back.
Duran finished the opener 3-4 with three RBI while Marving Serrano (Caracas, Venezuela/Ciudad Fajardo de Guatire) and Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) each added two hits. Sophomore Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Lice la Romana) struck out six batters on the mound, but was tagged with the loss.
Southwestern used another three-run first inning in game two to put the Tigers down early. Serrano singled and scored in the third and Adam Barrett (Council Bluffs, IA/Abraham Lincoln) did the same in the fourth, but the Spartans led 6-2 through four innings.
Duran connected on his final home run of the day, a solo shot in the seventh. Carter Eldridge (West Des Moines, IA/Waukee) scored the team's final run, but the early deficit doomed the Tigers once again.
Serrano finished the day 4-6 at the plate and has now recorded five multi-hit games in his last six contests. Barrett and Max McCay (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle) tallied two hits in the loss.
The Tigers travel to Iowa Western Community College for a nonconference doubleheader on Tuesday.
