MASON CITY, Iowa – NIACC baseball stretched their winning streak to 13 games and moved to 15-2 after sweeping a doubleheader against Riverland Community College (MN) on Wednesday, 10-0 and 3-1.
Trojan pitchers Ean McNeal (Fr., Cedar Rapids, IA) and Kyle Moses (So., Saint Ansgar, IA) combined for a no-hitter in game one, while Nate Pilacinski (So., Gaylord, MN) had a strong day with two hits, two RBI, three runs, and a save.
Tyler Peterson (So., Eden Prairie, MN) and Nick Tillo (So., Sioux City, IA) were both 3-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI for the day.
McNeal moved to 2-0 this season, by striking out three and walking one in three innings pitched. Moses retired nine of the 10 batters he faced to end game one.
Offensively, game one was a stark contrast compared to the 1-0 win NIACC had over Riverland (7-6) during its spring trip last week. The Trojans had 13 hits, compared to only four hits in last week’s matchup, and scored four in the first inning. All four of those runs came after the first two batters struck out.
NIACC scored four more in the fifth with Pilacinksi driving in a pair of RBI on a double. A two-run homer by Jose Perez (Fr., Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) in the sixth invoked the 10-run mercy rule to end the game.
Perez and catcher Robert Swenson (Fr., Mason City, IA) both had solid games with a pair of RBI in game one.
NIACC scored all three runs off of four errors in the third inning of game two. Only Reynaldo Sala (Fr., Santiago, Dominican Republic) recorded a hit in that inning, yet eight Trojans made it to the batter’s box. No Trojan had an RBI or multiple hits in game two.
Pitcher Mike Bohl (So., Mason City, IA) improved to 2-0 with the win in game two. Riverland had four hits, but Bohl’s only blemish was a solo shot by Kenny Stelter in the fourth.
Corey O’Connor (Fr., Clarion, IA) replaced Bohl in the fifth, and AJ Hrubetz (Fr., Mason City, IA) and Pilacinski split the final two innings.
NIACC will host conference rival and 17th-ranked Iowa Central (14-7) in doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. Both twinbills will start at 1 p.m.
GAME ONE
Riverland 000 000 – 0 0 1
NIACC 400 402 – 10 12 0
RCC stats
Joseph Wagner (4K and 2 BB), and Jason Kezman.
Multiple hits – none
Multiple RBI – none
NIACC stats
Ean McNeal (3 K, 1 BB), Kyle Moses (4) (2 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP)
2B – Robert Swenson, Reynaldo Sala, Nate Pilacinski
HR – Jose Perez (1st of season)
Multiple hits – Sala 2, Pilacinski 2, Tyler Peterson 2, Nick Tillo 2, Swenson
Multiple RBI – Pilacinski 2, Perez 2, Swenson 2
GAME TWO
Riverland 000 100 0 – 1 5 4
NIACC 003 000 x – 3 4 0
RCC stats
Eric Sandstrom (4 K, 3 BB, 1 HBP), Connor Hurst (6) and Ben Schaben.
HR – Kenny Stetler
Multiple hits – none
Multiple RBI – none
NIACC stats
Mike Bohl (3 K, 0 BB) Corey O’Conner (5), AJ Hrubetz (6), and Pilacinski (2 K, 1 BB) and Osvaldo Marin, Swenson (7).
Multiple hits – none
Multiple RBI – none
