MCC splits Sunday games with Bismarck State
PUEBLO, Colo. – The McCook Community College baseball team split a pair of games Sunday at Runyon Field Sports Complex. The Indians won the first game 10-8 and lost in the second game 7-3.
MCC had a chance for a sweep for the second day in a row and led 3-2 in the seventh inning of Game 2 with two outs but were unable to close out the game.
“That last game was a tough one,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. “We were a strike away from winning it on two different pitches, then they put a couple swings on it and next thing you know it got out of control.”
Freshman Dalton Berg (Frederick, Colo.) had three hits to help lead the MCC offense to a 10-8 win in Game 1. Freshman Tait Anderson (Auckland, New Zealand) pitched five shutout innings for MCC in Game 2 and gave his team a 3-0 lead before the Mystics scored two in the sixth and five runs in the seventh inning.
“It was a disappointing way to end a good weekend, we need to figure out a way to close out close games, that’s two this year where we’ve had the lead in the last inning and haven’t put away,” said Olsen
Bismarck State goes to 1-3 on the season.
“I think we maybe just got a little complacent in that last game today,” said Olsen. “But it was a weekend in the right direction.”
MCC goes to 3-6 and is scheduled to host Northeast Community College (Norfolk) Friday for a doubleheader at the Jaycees Sports Complex. First game is set for 1:30 p.m.
Up-to-date information about MCC baseball including livestream links, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com
GAME 1 – McCook 10, Bismarck State College 8: An error and four straight Mystics hits led to four quick runs for the North Dakota team. MCC responded in the bottom of the inning with four runs to tie the game.
“We did a great job of fighting back after the rough first inning, we answered offensively every time we needed too which was good to see,” said Olsen.
Sophomore Maddox Shaver (Belleville, Ontario) started the rally with a single followed by a walk from Cory Wouters (sophomore Saskatoon, Saskatchewan). Dalton Berg doubled him home to make it a 4-2 game. Owen Glover (sophomore, Elderslie, New South Wales) singled in Berg, and later tied the game scoring on a wild pitch.
The Mystics scored twice more in the second off MCC starting pitcher Aviv Bobrov (freshman, Shekhanya, Israel) but MCC plated a run in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff single by sophomore Nathan Hutchison (Riverton, Wyo.) and an RBI single by Wouters.
Freshman catcher Tyler Reyburn (Frederick, Colo.) doubled to lead off the MCC third and came home on a single from freshman Landon McKillip (Lamoni, Iowa). Shaver singled in McKillip to put the Indians up 7-6. Aviv kept BSC off the scoreboard in the fourth left the game after four innings, allowing seven hits, five earned runs, no walks and five strikeouts.
Bismarck jumped back in front in the fifth on a two-run homer to lead 8-7 off freshman reliever Kaden Noble (Orillia, Ontario).
McKillip was hit by a pitch leading off the MCC sixth and later scored on a wild pitch to knot the game at 8-8. Wouters put MCC in the lead for the final time with an RBI-double and he scored on a Berg double.
Knoble kept BSC off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh to pick up the win. He allowed three hits, two walks and two earned runs in his three-inning relief outing.
MCC had 10 hits with three by Berg and two by Wouters.
GAME 2 – Bismarck State College 7, McCook 3: The Indians scored a run in the first reaching on an error and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Dalton Berg. Tyler Reyburn doubled to lead off the second and scored on Landon McKillip’s RBI-double. McKillip was hit by a pitch leading off the fifth. He stole second, went to third on an error and scored on a single off the bat of Nathan Hutchison.
Left-hander Tait Anderson shut out the Mystics for five innings but with two outs in the sixth, BSCC scored twice on three straight doubles before Anderson got a flyball to end the inning. He pitched six innings, allowed six hits, two earned runs, no walks and he struck out four.
“Tait threw a great game we just didn’t close out the sixth or seventh like we needed too,” said Olsen.
Freshman Julian Alvarez (Vaughan, Ontario) took over in the seventh. With MCC leading 3-2 he recorded two outs, but Bismarck State rallied with a single, a walk, tied the game 3-3 on a double, took the lead on a single and after a hit batter, scored one run on a wild pitch and more on a single.
The Mystics outhit MCC 11-6 with eight coming in the final two innings.