Game 1 - Pioneers 12... Williston State 2 (5 Innings)
The MCC Pioneers took advantage of some wild Teton pitching in the 1st inning to score 4 runs on only one hit and rode the arm of Bridger Erickson (St. Anthony, ID) to cruise by Williston State 12-2 in opening game of the Saturday doubleheader.
Erickson had an excellent showing on the mound giving up 2 runs on only 2 hits in a complete game (5.0 innings) victory. Erickson walked 3 and struck out 2.
In the bottom of the 1st, leadoff hitter Jaeden Jordahl (Billings, MT) walked and reached 2nd after CF Jake Lacey (Gillette, WY) reached on an error. 1B Tim Holyk (Nanaimo, BC) had a bunt single to 3rd base and then Jordahl scored on a throwing error to the 1st baseman. RF Ian Krump (Rapid City, SD) then walked to load the bases. 3B Lane Neill (Belgrade, MT) was hit by a pitch to force in Lacey and a 2-0 Pioneer lead. DH Clay Prell (Miles City, MT) then grounded out to 1st on a play that scored Holyk. 2B Ryota Kusumoto (Cairns, Australia) grouned out to 2nd base that scored Krump and the Pioneers led 4-0 on the strength of only one hit.
The Pioneers added 3 more in the 3rd inning when Holyk walked and Krump singled to rightfield to put runners on the corners. Neill then grounded in to a double play but Holyk scored to make it 5-0. Clay Prell narrowly missed a home run on a shot to rightfield that turned in to a double. Kusumoto hit a sharp single to rightfield that scored Prell. C Takumi Kimoto (Brisbane, Australia) then hit a single to put runners on the corners and Kusumoto scored after courtesy runner Matt Burton (Helena, MT) got caught in a run down between 1st and 2nd and eventually ended up safe.
The Tetons got a 2-run home run from Chris McAllister in 4th inning to make the score 7-2. In the bottom of the 4th, Jordahl walked and stole 2nd. Lacey had an RBI single to leftfield to make the score 8-2. After the Pioneers loaded the bases, Lane Neill cranked a grand slam home run to leftfield for the final run of the game and a 12-2 Pioneer win.
Niell was 1-2 in the game with 5 RBI, and Kimoto, Kusumoto, and Holyk each had 2 hits. The Pioneers had 10 hits in the game and walked 5 times.
Game 2 - Pioneers 3... Williston State 7
The Williston State Tetons, whose bats had been quiet for 8 inning leading up to the 4th inning of game 2, put up 4 runs on 6 hits in the 4th inning then held the Pioneer bats quiet the rest of the way in a 7-3 Teton victory in game 2.
The Pioneers got on the board 1st in the 2nd inning when Ian Krump hit a double, advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch, and then scored when Clay Prell hit in to a double play. MCC got 2 more runs in the 3rd inning after a quick 2 outs, Jaeden Jordahl walked and Jake Lacey hit a home run all the way out of Connors Stadium for a 3-0 Pioneer lead. The Pioneers would not score again for the rest of the game.
Williston State struck for 4 runs in the 4th and 3 more in the top of the 7th inning to gain a split on the day.
Cameron Murphy (Torrington, WY) got the start for MCC and went 5 innings giving up 7 hits and 4 runs. He struck out 3 and didn't walk any batters. Patrick Dietz (Manhattan, MT) pitched the next inning and gave up one run on 2 hits, striking out 1. Noah Aliff (Centralia, Washington) finished the game giving up 2 runs on 2 hits.
The Pioneers are now 5-5 in MonDak Conference play and 21-15 overall. The teams will play a doubleheader again tomorrow in Williston at 11:00 AM MST.