WNCC baseball takes two from Trinidad State

WNCC baseball takes two from Trinidad State

                 TRINIDAD, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team took two of three games from Trinidad State Junior College this weekend in Empire Conference action.

                On Saturday, the Cougars scored five runs in the seventh and eighth inning and then Mitch Mullen slammed the door shut in giving the Cougars the 6-5 win over the defending Region IX champions.

                Sunday's action saw a split in two different games. The first game saw Harrison Yates rip a grand slam and WNCC scored seven times in the fifth in rolling to the 10-3 win. The second game saw Trinidad score eight first-inning runs and never looked back for the 11-3 win.

                Saturday's 9-inning contest was a barnburner. WNCC scored first with a run in the first inning only to watch Trinidad score twice in the fourth and three times in the sixth to grab a 5-1 lead.

                WNCC came back with two in the seventh to slice the lead to 5-3. Mitch Osborne singled followed by walks by Dermot Fritsch and Ethan Miller to load the bases. Amoldo Maltos-Garcia scored one with a sacrifice fly and then Mike Felton single to score another run.

                WNCC took the lead in the eighth with three runs. Harrison Yates started things with a single followed by walks by Luis Alcantara and Osborne to load the bases. Fritsch followed with a run-scoring single followed by a 2-out single by Maltos-Garcia for the lead.

                WNCC outhit Trinidad 13-9. Four Cougars had two-hit games. Osborne and Maltos-Garcia had the big day with two hits. Osborne had a double with two runs scored, while Maltos-Garcia had three RBIs. Also collecting two hits were Brevin Owen and Miller.

                DeClue picked up the win in relieve of Zach Berg. DeClue pitched 2 2/3 innings in allowing one hit and striking out five. Mullen earned the save in pitching two-thirds of an inning.

                Two teams split Sunday's contest. In the first contest, WNCC scored once in the first before Trinidad tied the game with a single run in the second.

                WNCC retook the lead for good with seven runs in the fifth on four hits. The inning all started with Fritsch doubled in two runs. Matt Womack followed with a single to score another run. With the bases juiced, Harrison Yates comes through with a grand slam for the 8-1 lead.

                WNCC finished with nine hits. Harrison Yates had two hits with four RBIs, including a home run, while Fritsch had two hits with a double and two RBIs. Also collecting two hits were Owen with two runs scored.

                Kale Litzelman picked up the win, tossing five innings in allowing two runs on five hits and striking out three. Nate Kolb tossed the final two innings in allowing two hits and a run with a strikeout.

                The second game saw Trinidad score eight times in the first inning. WNCC sliced the lead to 8-3 after scoring twice in the second on run-scoring singles by Felton and Hayden Seibers. The Cougars added a solo home run by Yates in the fourth, but they couldn't get any closer.

                WNCC finished with seven hits with seven different players with one hit each. Yates had the only extra base hit with his home run.

                WNCC goes to 6-8 on the season and 3-3 in Empire Conference action. Trinidad falls to 7-2 in conference action. The Cougars will next be in action Tuesday when they face South Mountain Community College to start their Spring Break trip through Arizona. It will be a battle of Western Nebraska Pioneer coaches as Mike Jones was an assistant on the Pioneers while South Mountain assistant coach Jimmy Turk was the Pioneers head coach.

 

Saturday's Game

WNCC                   100 000 230 – 6 13 4

Trinidad                000 203 000 – 5 8 1

WP – Garrett DeClue; S – Mitch Mullen.

2B – Ty McAninch, Mitch Osborne.

 

Sunday Game 1

WNCC                   100 072 0 – 10 9 1

Trinidad                010 010 1 – 3 7 2

WP – Kale Litzelman.

2B – Dermot Fritsch.

HR – Harrison Yates.

 

Sunday Game 2

WNCC                   020 100 0 – 3 7 4

Trinidad                800 102 x – 11 9 1

LP – Hunter Parker.

HR – Harrison Yates.