NCMC Baseball opened their home slate of games this past weekend winning one of four games against Region 16 foe Three Rivers Community College. With the lone win, the Pirates overall record is now 2-14 and 1-7 in region play.
On Friday, the Pirates dropped the opener 5-1. The Pirates were held to just two hits in the contest. Taking the loss on the mound despite pitching 6 innings and allowing just 1 earned run was sophomore Blake Collister. Game two saw the Pirate bats come to life. The Pirates totaled 8 runs on 12 hits, taking the 8-4 decision. Sophomore Connor Quick led the way going 3 for 4 with 1 run and 2 RBIs. Brandon Whitehead got the win on the mound pitching 7 innings, scattering 3 hits and allowed 4 earned runs. Evan Glaze threw the final frame recording the save.
Saturday saw the Pirates get swept by the Raiders. In game one, the Pirates took a 3-2 lead into the last inning but were undone two errors and a wild pitch. To start the inning, the leadoff man reached first on an error by NCMC shortstop Enrique Madera. Pitcher Evan Glaze then threw away a pickoff attempt which allowed the baserunner to advance all the way to third. Three pitches later, a ball in the dirt got past the Pirate catcher to allow the tying run to score. "To give away the lead the way we did really hurts. It was something we couldn't come back from," commented assistant coach Ryan Suttenfield. In the first extra-inning, a solo homerun proved to be the winning run for Three Rivers.
The final game of the series was competitive for a while but the Pirates failed to score after the third inning. The final score in the game proved to be 11-2. Getting the loss on the mound was Moses LaFontaine who tossed 3.1 innings and allowed 3 earned runs.
In the series Quick went 7 for 14 with 3 runs and 3 RBIs. Enrique Madera cooled off a bit from his hot start but still managed to go 5 for 13 with a pair of runs and RBIs. Defensively, the Pirates totaled 14 errors in the 4 game set which led to 13 unearned runs. "We have to get better defensively. It is difficult for any offense to cover as many unearned runs as we are allowing right now," added Coach Hillerman.
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Pirates. The next action will be on the road Saturday and Sunday against 12th Ranked Jefferson College.