By Justin Ites
Ellsworth Community College one win on Saturday before dropping the last two and the series to Southwestern Community College on Sunday.
The Panthers jumped out to a big lead in the opener before claiming a 19-9 decision, but dropped the last two contests by finals of 10-7 and 10-2.
During the opener, the Panther offense put up crooked numbers in the fourth and fifth frames to pull away. ECC (11-18) plated five in the fourth and exploded for 11 runs in the fifth.
The game featured five home runs for the offense, as Maddox O'Connor, Eric McGill, Dylan Phelps, Gavin Doll and Logan Bailey all smacked round-trippers to pace the offense.
Three pitchers combined to complete Saturday's win. Starter Zander Leick tossed the first five frames and allowed two earned runs on four hits. He struck out eight batters. TJ Eikenberry came on in relief for 1.1 innings of work. He struck out two and allowed three runs on one hit. Jayce Schwiesow cleaned up the game by recording the final two outs. He allowed four earned runs and three hits.
Game two featured a walk-off win for the Spartans. The hosts jumped all over Panther starter James Tounsley in the first inning, scoring five runs. Tounsley had control issues, as he walked three batters. SWCC (10-25) scored the five runs off Tounsley with just one hit.
Despite falling into a 6-0 hole after two innings, ECC's offense rallied to take the lead. The visitors plated four in the third and three in the seventh to move in front, 7-6.
Jordan Rowe, and Dylan Phelps were both 3-4 in the game, with Rowe connecting for a homer. Doll also homered for the second consecutive game in the series.
SWCC was able to walk off the Panthers by scoring four in the bottom of the seventh to claim the 10-7 victory. Brody Crow - the last relieve to pitch in the game for ECC - allowed four earned runs on one hit. He also walked two batters.
Sunday's game three finale got away from ECC after they 1-0 entering the bottom of the fourth. SWCC plated a pair in that frame, one in the sixth, four in the seventh and three in the eight of the nine-inning contest.
Four Panther pitchers - Zach Halvorsen, Reece Cochran, Jacob Foudree and Zach Lincoln - combined to walk seven batters.
Jacob Koerselman homered for ECC in the loss and Phelps was 2-4 at the dish.
For more on ECC Athletics, visit https://www.timescitizen.com/sports/ecc/
JUCO Baseball
Saturday/Sunday at Creston
ECC: 19| 17| 0
SWCC: 9| 8| 2
Zander Leick 5IP 4H 2R 2ER 4BB 8K; TJ Eikenberry 1.1IP 1H 3R 3ER 3BB 2K; Jayce Schwiesow 0.2IP 3H 4R 4ER 2BB 0K.
Hitting: Maddox O'Connor 3-5 HR 2 2B 3RBI; Lucas Bruhl 3-4 2B 2RBI; Eric McGill 2-3 HR 4RBI; Dylan Phelps 1-5 HR 4RBI; Gavin Doll 2-3 HR 3RBI; Logan Bailey 2-3 HR RBI.
ECC: 7| 12| 2
SWCC: 10| 5| 0
James Tounsley 1IP 1H 5R 2ER 3BB 0K; Tye Schellhorn 1IP 1H 1R 1ER 1BB 2K; Tripp Rawlings 4IP 2H 0R 0ER 1BB 2K; Brody Crow 0.1IP 1H 4R 4ER 2BB 0K.
Hitting: Jordan Rowe 3-4 HR 2 2B 3RBI; Phelps 3-4 RBI; Doll 1-4 HR RBI.
ECC: 2| 7| 1
SWCC: 10| 7| 0
Zach Halvorsen 2.2IP 2H 0R 3BB 1K; Reece Cochran 2.1IP 3H 2R 2ER 1BB 3K; Jacob Foudree 2IP 3H 5R 5ER 2BB 1K; Zach Lincoln 1IP 1H 3R 2ER 1BB 1K.
Hitting: Jacob Koerselman 1-1 HR RBI; Phelps 2-4.