Baseball Splits with Rival Mott

Wickes Park – The Pioneers baseball team kicked off the first of ten straight games in five days on Tuesday, as they hosted their rivals from the south, Mott Community College.  Game one saw them fall by a score of 6-4 before winning the nightcap, 15-11.  The split leaves them at 9-9 in the MCCAA Eastern division and 17-18 overall on the year.

Both teams scored early in game one and Mott held a 2-1 lead with two outs in the top of the third before what appeared to be a three-run homerun extended the Bears lead to 5-1.  However, when the batter missed home plate after his homerun trot, Delta catcher Nolan Raymond appealed to the Homeplate umpire and the batter was called out, ending the inning with Mott leading, 4-1.

DC scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings but Mott was able to keep pace and with the score 6-4 heading in to the bottom of the seventh, the JOEs were unable to get anything going.  Alex Snider took the loss on the hill, dropping his record to 2-4 on the season.  He gave up five earned runs on ten hits over seven innings while striking out four.  Matt Fisher and Nolan Raymond led the Delta offense with two hits apiece.

Game two saw a back and forth affair between the two foes for all seven innings.  Down 1-0 in the bottom of the second in game two, Drew Long and Cam Fowler each had RBI singles to give Delta their first lead of the day at 2-1.  With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the third, the Pioneers plated three runs courtesy of singles by Nick Johnson and Nolan Raymond as well as RBI singles by Jackson Lund and Randy Rangel and an RBI double off the bat of Cam Floyd.

But Mott came right back in the fourth, scoring three unearned runs on four Delta errors to tie the game at five.  Mott returned the favor in the bottom of the frame, however, committing two errors and giving Delta a 7-5 lead.  In the top of the fifth, the Bears added four runs, using a walk, a single a double and a three-run blast to take a 9-7 lead.

The Delta offense responded once again, however, as Floyd led off the inning with his second double of the game and scored on a Cam Fowler bunt to make it 9-8 with two outs.   Three walks and a Nick Johnson single later, the Pioneers held an 11-9 lead.  With the bases still full, Jackson Lund ripped a three-RBI double to put DC up 14-9 before the inning was over.  Mott scored two in the sixth off Delta reliever Alex Dingee and the JOEs scored one more in the bottom of the sixth for the final 15-11 tally.

Jackson Lund stared the game on the hill for Delta and took a no-decision after pitching four innings giving up four earned runs on six hits.  Alex Dingee collected the win in relief, throwing the final three innings to improve his record to 4-1 on the season.  Offensively, Delta was led by Cam Fowler and Cam Floyd with three hits and two RBI's each while Nick Johnson, Randy Rangel, Nolan Raymond and Jackson Lund added two hits each. 

Delta will head to Toledo tomorrow to square off with Region XII team Owens Community College in a double-header.  Owens is currently tied with Schoolcraft for the No. 1 seed in the regional while Delta sits one game back.  First pitch is scheduled for 2pm.