ENID, OKLA. - For the second year in a row, the Madison College baseball team made a big statement with their opening round victory at the
NJCAA Division II World Series at David Allen Memorial Ballpark. The #2-seeded WolfPack, who began the 2018 tournament with a come-from-behind 18-9 decision, scored a season-high in runs with a 21-14 defeat of #7-seeded Northeast Community College (NE) on Monday, with the two teams combining to set a NJCAA DII World Series record for combined runs in a game. The 12th straight win for the 'Pack sets up a Tuesday morning showdown with #3 Mesa Community College.
The game's 35 runs were all scored in the first five innings, with both teams racking up a ten-run inning. The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the WolfPack took a 3-1 lead with a run-scoring single by
Nathan Aide and a two-RBI double from
Jarrett Scheelk. Following another one-run inning for Northeast, Madison College made it 6-2 through two innings with a
Marquis Reuter sacrifice and an
Adam LaRock two-run double.
The advantage was cut to two runs before the WolfPack busted the game open with their ten-spot in the bottom of the third. The double-digit run total was the result of six hits and four free passes to first.
Walker Jenkins, Reuter,
Nick Gile, Aide,
Lucas Trebian, and
Carson Holin each picked up at least one run batted in during the scoring burst.
Now working with a 16-4 lead, starter
Matt Hamilton worked his lone 1-2-3 inning and appeared to be settling in. Scheelk double to left, scoring Gile and Aide in the home half, making it a 14-run game. However, with a potential run-rule decision looming, the Hawks made the fifth their inning to score ten runs. A three-run homer by Northeast Community College second baseman Drew Smith chased Hamilton from the game, and replaced by freshman
Connor Jasurda. The righthander gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced and later allowed a grand slam to Smith. It would be Jasurda's final batter, as fellow first year
Patrick Foldy came in to record the inning's final out via strikeout.
Madison College added some more insurance runs in their half of the inning with three runs on two hits and an error. LaRock doubled home a pair of runs and the error accounted for the game's final score. Foldy retired seven straight batters before working out of jams in the eighth and ninth innings. He allowed back-to-back singles in the eighth, and then struck out two of the final three batters. And in the ninth, he loaded the bases on two walks and a single, and with two outs, Smith came to the plate with a chance to add to his record nine RBI game. Instead, Foldy induced a fly out to center to end the game.
Six batters enjoyed two-hit games for the WolfPack, which finished with 14 hits in the game. LaRock and Scheelk each had two hits and a team-high four runs batted in, with LaRock also scoring a run. Aide, a native of Franklin, Wisconsin, was 2 for 4 with three runs scored and three RBI. Reuter posted two runs driven in and three scored on his two hits, while
Carl Valk had three runs scored and
Carson Holin registered two runs and one batted in. Gile, a produce of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, had one hit and was walked four times, leading to a team-best five touches of home plate, as well as two runs batted in. And Jenkins amassed two runs and two RBI despite going hitless in three at-bats.
On the hill, Hamilton did not factor in the decision as he tossed four innings of seven-run baseball with nine hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. Jasurda last two-thirds of an inning and was credited with seven runs on three hits and three walks with one K. Foldy, a native of Colgate, Wisconsin, earned the win to improve to 7-1 on the season. His line read 4.1 innings, no runs, three hits, two bases on balls, and six strikeouts.
Up Next:
Madison College (41-9) will square off with Mesa Community College (41-21) after the Thunderbirds scored a 2-0 win over Lincoln Land Community College (IL). The two teams met earlier this year during the WolfPack's annual spring trip to Arizona, where Mesa scored a
12-4 win in the sixth game of the year for Madison College. The 'Pack trails the all-time series by a 4-1 count, with the lone win coming in 2009. Tuesday will mark the second postseason meeting between the two programs, with the Thunderbirds taking a 2005 NJCAA World Series game in Millington, Tennessee. First pitch is set for 9:00 a.m. with the winner to play Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in the semifinals and the loser to play an elimination game later on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.
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