WNCC baseball falls to McCook

                McCOOK, Neb. – The McCook Community College baseball team scored three, first-inning runs and then held on to down Western Nebraska Community College 6-4 in an Empire Conference game Tuesday in McCook.

                The loss drops WNCC to 5-6 in conference play and 7-21 overall. McCook is 5-8 in conference play and 10-15 overall. WNCC and Lamar are tied at 5-6 in conference play and the two teams will play a 3-game series on Friday and Saturday, including a doubleheader on Friday and a 9-innng game on Saturday.

                McCook scored three runs in the first inning and led 4-0 before WNCC's offense started plating runs. WNCC scored single runs in the sixth and seventh inning to slice the lead in half 4-2.

                McCook added two insurance runs in the eighth for a 6-2 lead. Those two runs proved to be the winning runs as WNCC scored two runs in the ninth on solo home runs by Claude Bova and Tommy McRill, but they couldn't get any more runs across the plate Tuesday.

                WNCC outhit McCook 9-6. Bova led the offense with three hits, including a double and home run. Bova had an RBI and two runs scored. McRill was 2-for-2 with a double and home run. He also had two RBIs and a run scored.

                Brandon Maher chipped in two hits with a RBI.

                WNCC used three pitchers in the contest. Blake Slaymaker earned the start and suffered the loss. Slaymaker went five innings in giving up five hits and four runs while striking out four. Nate Kolb and Devin DeBoer also saw action. Kolb went 2 2/3 innings in allowing a hit with two runs, while DeBour tossed a third of an inning.

WNCC                   000 001 102 – 4 9 1

McCook               300 100 02x – 6 6 0

LP – Blake Slaymaker

2B – Claude Bova, Tommy McRill

HR – Claude Bova, Tommy McRill