MCC baseball wins twice Sunday; take series with OJC 3-1

LA JUNTA, Colo. – The McCook Community College baseball team took a pair of games Sunday over Otero Junior College to take the four-game weekend set 3-1. MCC won the first game Sunday 4-1 and took the second 14-6.

"We got two different games today," said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.

Sophomore Ethan Fritz (Bellevue, Neb.) pitched up a complete-game win in Game 1, with solo home runs from sophomore Zack Beatty (Maple Park, Ill.) and freshman Ethan Murdoch (Swift Current, Saskatchewan).

"Ethan Fritz threw a great game," Olsen said. "Today was a big day for us and he really set the tone, and we got a couple solo shots and three big hits in a row for a two-spot and we defended all day."

            In Game 2, MCC got runs in every inning but the second, pounded out 16 hits and took advantage of five Otero errors. Beatty homered two more times in the second game.

"We just came out swinging it and kept the pressure on them all day," said Olsen.

MCC goes to 19-18 on the season and 13-9 in Region IX play (the Empire League). Otero falls to 5-23, and 4-16.

MCC will be in Norfolk Thursday for a game with Northeast Community College.

On Saturday MCC begins a three-game series at home against Western Nebraska. Saturday is a one nine-inning ame  starting at 2 p.m. with Sunday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

For all the up-to-date information on MCC baseball this season including, schedules, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at: https://mccookcc.prestosports.com/landing/index

            GAME 1 – McCook CC 4, Otero JC 1: Zack Beatty (Maple Park, Ill.) launched a first-inning home run to put MCC up 1-0.

            With one out in the second inning, MCC got three straight hits to add two more runs. Freshman Josh Maysonave (Austin, Texas) singled, freshman Riley Watson (Sydney, Australia) doubled and sophomore Markus Coronado (Irving, Texas) drove them both home with a single.

            In the fourth inning, freshman Ethan Murdoch (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) sent a solo home run to left field to give MCC a 4-1 lead.

            Ethan Fritz pitched five shutout innings before allowing a solo homer in the sixth.

            He closed out the game pitching seven innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, one walk and he struck out six.

            MCC had nine hits in the game with two each from Beatty, Maysonave, and Coronado.

            GAME 2 – McCook CC 14, Otero JC 6: Zack Beatty got things going in the second game with a three-run home run in the first inning.

The Rattlers tied the game with three runs in the second off starter Mikey Acierno (freshman, Thornton, Colo.) but an Otero error opened the door for the MCC offense in the third as Elijah Munoz (sophomore, Big Spring, Texas) singled in two to give MCC a 5-3 lead.

After recording the first out in the bottom of the third, Acierno surrendered a double and a single and was relieved by freshman Cade Webber (Kelowna, British Columbia) who struck out the first batter he faced but did allow an RBI-single to pull OJC within a run of the lead 5-4.

Zach Beatty's two-run double in the fourth put MCC up 7-4 and in the fifth it was an RBI-single by Oliver Davies (freshman, Sydney, Australia) that gave MCC an 8-4 edge. Beatty led off the sixth with a solo home run to ignite a three-run inning as MCC led 11-4.

Webber kept OJC off the scoreboard for 3.2 innings. He allowed one hit, no walks and he struck out eight. He finished out his outing by striking all three of the batters he faced in the sixth inning.

"Cade Webber was awesome out of the pen and really gave our offense a chance to work," Olsen said.

MCC added three more runs in the seventh, Coronado hit a home run.

Sophomore Jordan Muschalek (Odessa, Texas) pitched the seventh inning and allowed a two-out, two-run home run in his one inning of work.

MCC got three-hit games from the top three guys in the lineup in, Daniel Bannon (sophomore, Sydney, Australia), Coronado and Beatty. Beatty drove in five, Coronado and Munoz, both three.