MCC Baseball shuts out Hastings JV 12-0
HASTINGS – The McCook Community College baseball team shutout Hastings College JV Wednesday 12-0.
Sophomore Jackson Finder picked up his first collegiate win pitching four scoreless innings, and MCC took advantage of five Bronco errors and 11 free passes to take the game in seven innings.
"I thought Jackson really went out and set the tone for us today," said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. "He threw really well the first four innings and allowed us to build a lead, we pitched really well today."
The Indians go to 25-20 on the season and have a short turnaround Thursday with their seventh and eighth game in six days. Weather has changed the weekend Region IX series against Western Nebraska. The doubleheader in Scottsbluff was moved up from Friday and the two teams will begin the series Thursday at 2 p.m. (CT).
On Wednesday, freshman Owen Glover (Elderslice, New South Wales) put MCC on the scoreboard in the first inning with an RBI-single. The Indians added another run in the second on a Bronco error, two walks and a sacrifice fly by freshman Maddox Shaver (Belleville Ontario).
In the MCC fourth, three Bronco errors, a hit batter and a walk gave MCC plenty of baserunners and the Indians were able to score six runs which included a three-run double by freshman Josh Jedretich (Melbourne, Australia), an RBI-single by sophomore Jason Serafinchon (Spruce Grove, Alberta) and a sacrifice fly from Kyler Cox (freshman, Hayes Center) to give MCC an 8-0 lead.
"Josh had a huge swing for us with the bases loaded with a three-run double and that kind of broke the game open," Olsen said.
Finder (Lincoln Pius) started the game on the mound for the Indians and pitched four scoreless innings, giving up two hits a walk and striking out three.
After a walk and two outs in the MCC fifth, Shaver singled, Jedretich singled in a run and Glover singled in another to make it a 10-0 Indian advantage.
Sophomore Jake Quinlivan (Sydney, Australia) pitched a scoreless fifth giving up a hit and walking a batter and striking out one. Freshman Caden Karabensh (Johnstown, Colo.) pitched a scoreless sixth inning, striking out one.
The Broncos helped the MCC offense again in the seventh with another hit batter and an error and MCC scored one run on a Cox RBI-groundout and another on an RBI-single from freshman Wrigley Strong (Omaha).
Sophomore Dylan Huddle (Arvada, Colo.) closed out the win with a scoreless seventh inning. He struck out one.
"I thought Caden and Dylan had some of their best stuff of the year," said Olsen.
MCC had seven hits in the game with two each by Jedretich and Glover. Jedretich had four RBIs in the game. MCC hitters drew seven walks and were hit four times. Hastings committed five errors.
"It was good to get some guys out there for an extended period of time today and was a good win for us," said Olsen.
Thursday's doubleheader in Scottsbluff starts another key Region IX series. The two teams will conclude their split four-game set Sunday in McCook.
The Indians are 16-4 in the Empire League in second place in the standings while Western Nebraska is in fourth place at 12-8 (21-26 overall). The two teams will conclude their four-game series Sunday in McCook starting at 1 p.m.
MCC is looking for a strong finish. The top two teams in the standings receive a first-round bye in Region IX post-season tournament May 9-12 in Colorado Springs.
The top six region teams in the standings will advance to the tournament in a single game, double-elimination tournament. The top two seeds will earn a first-round bye with the third seed playing the sixth seed and the fourth seed playing the fifth seed.
After Sunday's games with Western Nebraska, the Indians will play their final home game Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Colby then wrap up the Region IX schedule against the standings-leader Southeast Community College. That four-game series will be at Beatrice May 3-4.
All the latest information for MCC baseball including up-to-date schedule and changes as well as statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com
