MESA, ARIZ. - Every time a Madison College hitter put the bat on the ball Sunday against Mesa Community College, it seemed to go for extra bases and added up to a 12-5 victory. The #12-ranked WolfPack, who are 6-0 in the desert, posted eight extra base hits and have produced double-digit hits in six of their nine games this season. The Thunderbirds still lead the all-time series by a narrow 7-6 margin.

Madison College got on the board first with two runs in the opening half inning. An error allowed freshman Braylen White to score the game's opening run and another error in the subsequent at bat brought in Nate Novinska.

Mesa CC evened the score in their first at bats thanks to a two-run triple. The WolfPack regained the lead in the second when centerfielder Jonah Roloff singled back up the middle to bring in Easton Engel for a 3-2 lead. The advantage grew to 5-2 in the fourth as the Pack stacked up four free passes and one hit. White singled in Engel and then scored when Chase Maika was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Thunderbirds got within two runs in the sixth, only to see Madison College go up by four with two runs in the seventh. Freshman Matt Gruber led off with a triple and scored when fellow first year Casey Wambach followed with a double to center.Two batters later, Ian Salvesen hit a two-bagger to right to plate Wambach for a 7-3 edge.

A solo home run by Mesa CC made it 7-4 before Eason Hurd smashed his first collegiate home run with a blast to left that brought in Roloff and Novinska. Later in the frame, Sam Moses tripled to left to plate Gruber, and then Salvesen picked up another RBI with a sac fly to left to bring home Moses.

Freshman Jack Poellot got the start and worked three innings, giving up two runs on two hits and a walk, while also striking out two. Lefthander Aaron Ploszay (1-0) took over for three innings and picked up his first collegiate win. The native of Holmen, Wisconsin, struck out four batters and allowed one earned run on three hits and a walk. Tavian Shramek closed out the game with three solid innings that featured four K's, two earned runs, two walks, and one hit.

Up Next:

Madison College (7-2) is off on Monday, March 16 and returns to play three straight games against #4-ranked South Mountain Community College (24-9). The first two will come in a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 17. The Cougars won all three meetings during last season's spring trip. First pitch of the twin bill opener is at 2:00 p.m. CT/noon APT. Stats and live video can be found via the GameChanger app.

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