Delta Splits League Opener

Lansing, Michigan – The Delta College baseball team started the MCCAA portion of their schedule on Friday as they traveled to Lansing to take on the Stars of Lansing Community College.  Both games were nail biters as the Pioneers won a 6-5 contest in ten innings in the opener before dropping a 2-1 decision in the nightcap.  The split leaves DC with a 7-8 overall record on the year and 1-1 in conference play.

In game one, Delta fell behind early as Lansing scored a single run in the first inning on a solo homerun and two runs in the second on two hits, a walk and throwing error.  But Delta starting pitcher Tom Fortney would hold them after that, as the Pioneers mounted their comeback.

Z Westley got things started in the fourth as he led off with a single and came around to score on a Ty Robbins sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-1.  In the next inning, Grant Slomkowski and Justin Heinlein each singled and eventually scored on a Hunter David single to tie the game.  Aaron Esparza, whom had also singled earlier in the inning, came around to score on another Z Westley single to give Delta the 4-3 lead. 

That's where the score would remain until the bottom of the seventh where relief pitcher Tyler Kirkwood got two quick outs before giving up a misplayed tripled to center field.  With the game tying run at third base and two outs, Lansing would get a bloop single to score the runner and tie the game.

But Delta came right back in the eighth inning when Slomkowski drew a two-out walk before pinch hitter Jeff Wright did the same.  A misplayed ball off the bat of Heinlein allowed Slomkowski to score from second and give Delta a 5-4 lead.  Lansing once again answered, however, with a solo homerun in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-5. 

A scoreless ninth inning saw Slomkowski once again lead off for Delta in the tenth where he drew a leadoff walk before being eliminated on a Heinlein grounder.  Esparza drew a two-out walk to put runners at first and second while Hunter David singled to score Heinlein and make the score 6-5 in favor of the visitors. 

Ethan Lesperance, Delta's third pitcher of the game, threw the bottom of the tenth and wrapped two strikeouts around two walks before getting a pop fly to secure the win and his first save of the season.  Kirkwood was credited with the win to up his record to 2-0 on the season while Esparza led the offense with three walks and two hits.  Westley and Zach Schirmer also had two hits while Hunter David collected two hits and three RBI.

The second game was a classic pitcher's duel featuring Delta's Justin Jurek who took a shutout into the fifth before Lansing scored on a botched rundown to tie the game at 1-1.  The Pioneers had managed to push across a run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead as Ty Jones walked, stole second base, moved to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a passed ball.

With darkness encroaching and the game still tied at 1-1, Lansing drew back-to-back walks in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the day for Jurek.  A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third before an intentional walk loaded them up.  Delta went to a five-man infield and got a grounder to short that forced out the runner at the plate for the second out.  But a handle shot between first, second and the pitcher's mound was hit too slowly to get the runner at first and the game ended as auspiciously as it began.

Jurek took the loss, throwing six innings while giving up three hits and striking out three.  He drops to 2-1 on the season.

Delta heads to Cuyahoga Community College tomorrow for a Region XII contest.  Game time is scheduled for 2pm.