MCC baseball drops two games at NJC

STERLING, Colo. – The Northeastern Junior College baseball team swept two games from the McCook Community College baseball team Monday and sweep the four-game series. NJC won Monday’s games 12-2 and 8-6.

The Plainsmen scored in five of the six innings to take Game 1.

“We just didn’t really get anything going on the mound or offensively, so it was a tough start to the day,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.

The Indians trailed 5-0 in the sixth inning of Game 2 before the offense finally started clicking and put the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth inning but came up short.

“I thought we got a pretty good start from Aviv Bobrov but we had a couple plays that we could have made that weren’t errors but just plays we need to make to win close games like that,” said Olsen. “We did a good job of scrapping back late, got a big swing from Dalton Berg to get us back in the game, then put some pressure on them in the ninth but just couldn’t keep the inning going.”

With the four-game sweep, NJC improves to 9-3 in the Region IX standings and 23-16 overall.

MCC falls to 3-9 in the region and 14-21 on the season.

“We have to just keep our head down and keep working to get things going in the right direction,” said Olsen. 

The Indians will be back at the Jaycees Sports Complex Tuesday for a 2 p.m. game against Garden City Community College.

For all the latest information about MCC baseball including schedule and schedule changes, livestream links, statistics, rosters, photos and more please visit the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com 

GAME 1 – Northeastern JC 12, McCook 2: After being swept by the Plainsmen Sunday, MCC took a 1-0 lead in the first. Sophomore Nathan Hutchison (Riverton, Wyo.) singled to lead off the game, was forced out at second base on a fielder’s choice. Sophomore Cory Wouters (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) doubled and MCC scored on an RBI-groundout with freshman Dalton Berg (Frederick, Colo.) batting.

NJC took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first off freshman starter Tait Anderson (Auckland, New Zealand). The Plainsmen added a run in the second and three in the third inning to lead 6-1. An MCC error and an NJC walk in the fifth chased Anderson from the game. He went four innings, allowing nine hits, one walk and he struck out four.

NJC scored two in the fifth and four more in the sixth. Freshman Julian Alvarez (Vaughan, Ontario) pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing three hits, three walks and he struck out one.

MCC’s final run came in the sixth on a leadoff Wouters single, a walk by Berg, a single by freshman Garrett Bacon (Tulsa, Okla.) and a bases loaded walk by sophomore Owen Glover (Elderslie, New South Wales).

The Indians had six hits in the game with three by Wouters and two by Hutchison.

GAME 2 – Northeastern JC 8, McCook 6: The Plainsmen scored single runs in the first and second innings and scored three times in the third to lead 5-0.

MCC got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning after two were out. Freshman Carter Smith (Ottawa, Canada) drew a walk and Owen Glover was hit by a pitch in front of a single by freshman Tyler Reyburn (Frederick, Colo.).

NJC got that run back in the bottom of the sixth to lead 6-1.

The Indians rallied for three runs in the seventh on an NJC two-base error, an intentional walk to Wouters and a three-run home run by Dalton Berg.

Freshman Aviv Bobrov (Shekhanya, Israel) pitched seven innings and allowed five earned runs on seven hits, four walks and he struck out six hitters.

Freshman Colby Kaplan (Parker, Colo.) pitched the eighth inning and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk as NJC took a 8-4 lead.

MCC mounted a ninth inning rally led by Wouters who singled to lead off the inning. Berg doubled him home and later scored on an RBI-single by Glover. The Indians had two runners on with one out but couldn’t get the big hit in the ninth.

The Indians outhit NJC 11-9 with two-hit games from Wouters, Berg, Glover and Reyburn.