MASON CITY, Iowa – NIACC baseball opened its weekend series with Ellsworth by grabbing a pair of conference victories 9-1 and 2-1 wins on Saturday.
The Trojans (28-9, 8-2 in ICCAC) didn’t give up an earned run in either game, and got production out of Hunter King (Fr., Mason City, IA) and Tyler Peterson (So., Eden Prairie, MN) at the plate. Hunter went 4-for-5 with four singles and two runs scored over the games, and Peterson was 3-for-6 with three runs and a homerun.
Lucas Bakker (Fr., Brisbane, Australia) and Jeremy Cronk (Fr., North Liberty, IA) received the wins, while Ean McNeal (Fr., Cedar Rapids, IA) got the save in game two. Bakker (6-2) threw a complete game in the series opener and struck out four. Cronk (4-0) struck out four as well while giving up two hits.
The Trojans scored in every inning in game one but the first and seventh. Robert Swenson (Fr., Mason City, IA) got the first RBI of the game in the second inning with a single that scored Nick Tillo (So., Sioux City, IA) from second. A throwing error from right field to the plate in an attempt to get Tillo allowed King to move from second to third and Swenson from first to second.
In the next at bat, Drew Verstegan (Fr., Mason City, IA) added another single to score King. Swenson got caught in a hop-box on the play when he rounded third, and was tagged out to end the inning.
Shortstop Reynaldo Sala (Fr., Santiago, Dominican Republic) scored NIACC’s lone run in the third when his first homerun of the season went over the left field fence to make it 3-0.
Jake Ratz scored Ellsworth’s (19-18, 5-9 in ICCAC) lone run of the first game in the fourth on a throwing error by Sala. Sala chased down a hit by Ellsworth’s Patrick Riewer for a nice fielding play, but his off-balance throw to first was wide right and allowed Ratz to score from second.
NIACC got that run back in the bottom of the fifth after Verstegan hit Tillo home from third on a sac-fly at the left field wall to make it 4-1.
Jose Perez (Fr., Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) hit a two RBI single in the fifth with two out to give NIACC a 6-1 lead, and Peterson, King and Ryan Voves (Fr., Mason City, IA) all had RBI singles in the sixth to end NIACC scoring.
All 10 Trojans that had a plate appearance in the first game had at least one hit. Ellsworth had eight hits in game one, with three coming from shortstop Tyler Sherman.
NIACC won game through solid defense, and Ellsworth’s only run came unearned in the seventh off a wild pitch by McNeal. Whatever situation that favored Panthers, the Trojans found a way to get out of the jam.
NIACC ended an early scoring threat in the first with runners on first and second by forcing Ellsworth’s Jose Santiago into an inning-ending double play.
The Trojans also fought past a couple mental errors in the fifth. Ellsworth started the inning reaching on a couple of errors, and the Trojans missed another opportunity on the next batter when Jean Carlos Peralta hit a chopper to third that resulted in no outs.
Ellsworth couldn’t capitalize on the mistakes as the Trojans got the last two outs of the inning with the bases loaded. Conk struck out Ratz and Jose Santiago lined out to Hunter King to end the inning.
Finally with a 2-0 lead, NIACC turned a double play on a sac bunt with one out coming at the plate. Ellsworth outfielder Andrew Coffman laid down the bunt, and was thrown out at first by Cronk. Burau broke from third on the throw, and was ousted at the plate on a throw by Peterson to Osvaldo Marin ( Carolina, Puerto Rico) to end the inning.
Offensively for NIACC, Peterson had the first score of the game with a homerun in the third, his third of the season. Verstegan scored in the fifth off a throwing error by Sherman on what should have been the third out of the inning.
NIACC will host Ellsworth again in a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 1 p.m.
GAME ONE
ECC 000 100 0 – 1 7 3
NIACC 021 123 x – 9 15 1
Ellsworth stats
Doriel Escobar (1 K, 2 BB), McCreary (5) (2 BB) and Andrew Coffman
2B – Jake Ratz
Multiple hits – Tyler Shannon 3
NIACC stats
Lucas Bakker (4 K, 1 BB) and Robert Swenson.
2B – Tyler Peterson
HR – Reynaldo Sala
Multiple hits – Hunter King 3, Nick Tillo 2, Peterson 2, Swenson 2
Multiple RBI – Drew Verstegan 2, Perez 2
GAME TWO
ECC 000 000 1 – 1 5 1
NIACC 001 010 x – 2 8 2
Ellsworth stats
Patrick Riewer (2 K, 1 HBP) and JJ Reimer
Multiple hits – Ethan Barau 2
NIACC stats
Jeremy Cronk (4 K, 2 BB, 2 HBP) Ean McNeal (6) (1 K, 1 BB) and Osvaldo Marin.
2B – Tillo
HR – Peterson
