Indians open Region IX slate with split at Luna
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The McCook Community College baseball team opened the Region IX schedule Friday with a split at Luna Community College.
The Rough Riders scored six runs in the fourth inning to take the first game 7-4.
“We jumped out with a nice top of the first and Leif Friedrich faced the minimum through three innings then we just imploded in the bottom of the fourth,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. “Luna put the ball in play for a few hits then we walked a couple and made an error and next thing you know we’re down 6-3.”
MCC scored three runs in the third, fourth, fifth and six inning of Game 2 to win 15-4 backing a complete game win for freshman hurler Landon Molloy (Parker, Colo.).
“Game 2 was a much different story, we got a nice game from Landon, he only walked one and struck out eight, they got a few hits but we minimized the damage and offensively we adjusted well to how they were pitching us,” said Olsen.
Luna goes to 6-16 on the season while MCC is at 11-12. The two teams will play another doubleheader Saturday starting at 2 p.m.
“We need to come out tomorrow and put a complete game together,” said Olsen.
For all the latest information about MCC baseball including schedule and schedule changes, livestream links, statistics, rosters, photos and more please visit the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com
GAME 1 – Luna 7, McCook 4: The Indians jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning with a leadoff double by Nathan Hutchison (sophomore, Riverton, Wyo.), a two-run home run by Cory Wouters (sophomore Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and a solo homer by freshman Dalton Berg (Frederick, Colo.).
The score remained 3-0 until the fourth inning when the Rough Riders broke through against MCC starting pitcher Leif Friedrich (sophomore, Surrey, British Columbia) for six runs. Friedrich left after 3.1 innings of work, allowing four earned runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
Freshman Landen Zehr (Kitchener, Ontario) pitched the final 2.2 innings, surrendering an earned run in the fifth. He allowed two hits, two walks and struck out two in his outing.
Down 7-3 in the sixth, the Indians scored a run on a single by Maddox Shaver (sophomore Belleville, Ontario), two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly by freshman Ben Heathcock (Little Elm, Texas).
“They did what they needed to do then to win and we just didn’t adjust, they didn’t make errors or walk us and we didn’t earn anything so we got beat,” said Olsen.
MCC was outhit 8-6 with the Indians getting a two-hit game by Shaver. The only extra-base hits came in the first inning.
GAME 2 – McCook 15, Luna 4: The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first with back-to-back two-out doubles by Cory Wouters and Dalton Berg.
After the Rough Riders knotted the game with a run in the bottom of the first, MCC took the lead for good with a run in the second and three each in the third through sixth innings and added a final run in the seventh.
Freshman Garrett Bacon (Tulsa, Okla.) came off the bench to hit a two-run home run in the third to put MCC up 5-1. A single, three straight walks and an RBI-double by Berg put MCC up 8-1 in the fourth.
Freshman Tyler Reyburn (Frederick, Colo.) hit an RBI-triple and Nathan Hutchison hit a solo homer in a three-run fifth to give MCC an 11-2 lead. Freshman Joshua Joseph (Poplar Grove, Ill.) blasted a two-out, three-run homer in the sixth to put MCC up 14-2 and Wouters doubled in the final run in the seventh.
“We made them get the breaking ball up and we put some good swings on it, had a couple guys with some big swings,” said Olsen. “Garrett and Josh had big home runs, and I think we had like eight or nine two-out RBIs which was big.”
Landon Molloy went the distance to pick up the win. He allowed three earned runs on nine hits, one walk and nine strikeouts.
MCC outhit Luna 15-9. The Indians got three-hit games from Wouters, Berg and Reyburn and three RBI-games from Berg and Joseph. Bacon had two hits and two RBIs.