April 23 John Wood Community College at Quincy, Illinois
The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners swept a doubleheader from John Wood Community College by scores of 3-2 and 14-2 on Tuesday, April 23 in Quincy, Illinois.
In game one, freshman infielder/pitcher Jake Lufft led the Roadrunners offensively with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored. Freshman infielder/outfielder Anthony Gunn contributed a hit. Sophomore infielder Gavin Jones and freshman outfielder Brice Pannier contributed a hit each. Sophomore outfielder Hayden Bradford scored a run and stole a base. Sophomore outfielder Brady Holden also scored a run.
Freshman pitcher Peyton Soria got the start on the mound for SFCC. He pitched three and one-third innings. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out three. Freshman pitcher Garrett Morrow pitched three and two-thirds innings in relief. He allowed two hits and one run. He struck out three to earn the victory.
"Game one was definitely a closer game," said Roadrunners Baseball Head Coach Jud Kindle. "We really didn't hit the ball that well, but we were still able to get the win. We were able to execute a little more offensively in the second game and open it up."
In game two, Lufft continued his strong day at the plate with two hits, including a home run. Lufft also doubled. He also drove in four runs, scored four times and also walked twice. Freshman infielder Malik Stevenson had a pair of hits. He scored three times and drove in one. Jones doubled and scored twice. Pannier and sophomore catcher Blake Ford drove in two runs each. Pannier and Stevenson each stole a base in the game. Freshman infielder Blake Barnes had a double and a run batted in.
"Jake is really starting to figure it out offensively for us," said Kindle. "He had a big home run for us in the second game to really get our offense going. He was also very effective on the mound; with his fastball he was able to throw a bunch of strikes."
Lufft started the game on the mound for SFCC. He pitched two innings and allowed two runs, none of which were earned. He struck out three. Lufft picked up the win on the mound for the Roadrunners.
"It was a pretty good day to get everyone some repetitions and get prepared for this weekend," said Kindle.
April 25 Metropolitan Community College at Sedalia, Missouri
SFCC swept a pair of Region 16 contests by scores of 7-0 and 3-2 in eleven innings against the Metropolitan Community College Wolves from Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday, April 25.
In game one, Lufft had three hits, including a pair of doubles and a run scored. Bradford had two hits, one of which was a double. He scored a run and drove in two. Pannier also contributed two hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Jones added a double and three runs batted in. Freshman infielder Brett Holden also drove in a run.
Sophomore pitcher Logan Bexten got the start on the mound for the Roadrunners. He pitched six innings. He scattered six hits and struck out nine in a seven inning contest. Sophomore pitcher Kaleb Kauffman pitched the final inning to close out the game.
The Roadrunners honored their sophomores between games of the doubleheader.
Runs were hard to come by in the second game. Bradford had a pair of hits, including a double and scored what would prove to be the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Lufft had a hit and a run batted in. Sophomore infielder Kyle Clark had a pair of hits, including a double, which started the rally in the bottom of the 11th inning. Clark was lifted for a pinch runner, freshman outfielder Mason Sanders who scored the game-winning run courtesy of a hit from Ford, which whistled down the third base line to give SFCC the victory. The walkoff hit was just one on four hits for Ford in game two, one of which was a home run to get the scoring started the bottom of the fifth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Bill Cain got the start on the mound for SFCC. He pitched seven and two- thirds innings. He scattered six hits. Cain allowed one run and struck out seven. SFCC got good work out of the bullpen from Morrow, freshman pitcher Austin Brooks and sophomore pitcher Caleb Jonas. Jonas pitched the final inning to earn the victory in relief and set up the walkoff heroics. He struck out two batters.
"We hit the ball well in the first game," said Kindle. "We played good all-around baseball. We got a solid performance from Bexten. I thought in the second game we got a little complacent. Our pitchers pitched out of a lot of jams in game two. Our pitching staff gave us the opportunity to win the game at the end."
April 27 Metropolitan Community College at Kansas City, Missouri
On April 27, SFCC swept a Region 16 doubleheader from the Metropolitan Community College Wolves in Kansas City, Missouri by scores of 12-6 in a seven inning game and 11-1 in game two, the game ended after eight innings because of the run rule.
In game one, Jones and freshman infielder Brett Holden led SFCC offensively with three hits each. One of Holden's hits was a double. He scored a run and drove in a run. Jones scored two runs and drove in two more. Clark contributed a pair of hits and a run scored. Freshman utility player Ian Jacobs added two hits and a run batted in. Lufft hit a home run, scored twice and drove in three runs. Pannier also scored two runs.
Sophomore pitcher Jack Schmedding got the start on the mound for the Roadrunners. He pitched four innings. Schmedding allowed six runs and struck out five to pick up the victory.
In game two, SFCC pounded out 11 runs on 13 hits. Freshman infielder Brett Holden had three hits to lead the offensive attack. Bradford had two hits, one of which was a double to go along with two runs scored and a run batted in. Lufft had a pair of hits, including a triple. He drove in three runs and scored once. Jacobs had a pair of hits. He also scored a run and drove in a run. Sophomore outfielder Brady Holden scored a pair of runs.
Freshman pitcher Matt Perego got the start and picked up the victory for SFCC. He pitched seven innings, gave up one run, three hits and struck out five
April 28 Jefferson College at Sedalia, Missouri
The SFCC baseball team closed out the regular season portion of their Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference schedules by dropping a pair of games 7-6 in nine innings and 14-4 in seven innings to the 19th ranked Jefferson College Vikings from Hillsboro, Missouri on Sunday, April 28. The games were played at Liberty Park Stadium-Dey Field.
In game one, Bradford led the Roadrunners offense with three hits, including a double and he stole two bases. Jones recorded a pair of hits, including the game tying home run to force the game into extra innings. He also drove in two runs and scored two runs. Freshman infielder Brett Holden and Jacobs also recorded a pair of hits each. Ford also scored a pair of runs. The game was interrupted after the fifth inning by a nearly two hour weather delay.
"I thought we played well in game one," said Kindle. "Jefferson is an extremely good ball club. We stayed in the game the entire way, things just didn't fall our way at the end."
Lufft got the start on the mound for SFCC in game one. He pitched four innings, allowed five runs on eight hits and struck out five. Morrow pitched two innings, gave up two hits, one run and was given the pitching loss.
In game two, the SFCC offense was limited to four runs on four hits. Ford hit a home run and drove in two runs. Freshman catcher Trey Nichols, Pannier and freshman infielder Brett Holden recorded one hit each. Bradford, Perez and Pannier scored a run each.
Sophomore pitcher Conner Burnett got the start on the mound in game two for SFCC. He pitched three and two-thirds innings. Burnett allowed seven runs, six of which were earned on seven hits. He was given the pitching loss.
"We didn't really execute well at anything we did in game two," said Kindle. "We just didn't play a good game at all."
The Roadrunners record currently stands at 31-18 on the season.
David Rohrbach
SFCC Athlettics