RAYMOND – Hinds Community College baseball fell to Southeastern Iowa in the Saturday double-header despite late-inning heroics in game one and dominant pitching in game two.
In game one, the Eagles pulled within one run in the eighth inning behind a
Josh Rodriguez homerun,
Gavin Mink double and a
Connor Chisolm sacrifice fly.
Game two saw dominant pitching from the Eagle ace,
Holland Townes. The Ridgeland native exited the game after going 5.1 innings and only giving up six hits. Townes continued his success at striking out batters by tallying 12 in the contest. Through just over 23 innings pitched, Holland has now struck out a whopping 34 batters.
Game one
The Blackhawks struck first in game one by putting up a four spot in the third inning. The Eagles overcame a sluggish start to start putting runs on the board in the fifth inning when
Josh Rodriguez hit a solo homerun to left field.
Despite the four-run third inning for Southeastern, Hinds pitching kept the Blackhawk batters at bay by throwing six shutout frames in the contest.
Austin Fugler got the starting nod and went 2.2 innings, giving up four hits and striking out one. Sophomore
Nasson Rodriguez was phenomenal in relief for Fugler. Rodriguez threw 3.1 innings, giving up four hits and striking out three.
John David Gunn,
Justin Williams,
Tate Duncan and Jake Riley Gunn also saw time in the game on the mound.
At the plate, the Eagles were lead by
Josh Rodriguez, who went 3-4 with two homeruns. Other top performers include
Gavin Mink, who went 2-4 with two doubles and two RBI's, and
Vantrel Reed, who went 2-5 with a couple of singles and one RBI.
Game two
Both teams got off to a sluggish start at the plate. But, Southeastern was able to push three across in the sixth inning.
Holding the Blackhawk's bats back was sophomore pitcher
Holland Townes, who punched out 12 batters through 5.1 innings of work. Townes exited in the sixth inning, giving the ball to
Clayton Thurman, who struck out two through 1.2 innings of work.
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow when they head to Decatur to take on Lansing Community College and East Central Community College. First pitch for game one against Lansing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
