Feb. 21 North Central Missouri College and John Wood Community College at Sedalia

The Roadrunners opened the home portion of their 2020 schedule on Friday, Feb. 21, splitting a split doubleheader at Liberty Park Stadium-Dey Field. SFCC defeated North Central 11-0 in the opener before falling to John Wood 4-2 in game two.

In game one, SFCC got its offense going early with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, two of which were courtesy of a two-run home run to left field from sophomore infielder Kole Ficken of Boonville. He drove in three runs and scored twice in the game. The Roadrunners added three more runs in the bottom of the second inning and one more the bottom of the third. They put the game away with four runs the bottom of the fourth. The game ended after five innings because of the run rule.

Freshman infielder Xavier Goudeau of Kansas City had a pair of hits. Redshirt freshman outfielder Tommy Ruether of St. Louis drove in a pair of runs. Sophomore infielder/pitcher Jake Lufft of Blue Springs, freshman outfielder/pitcher Brady Strickert of Blue Springs, and freshman catcher Dylan Watson of Boonville all scored twice.  Lufft, Ruether, and Watson each had a double in the game.

Freshman pitcher Connor Barnes of Boonville tossed an outstanding complete game shutout on the mound for SFCC. He allowed one hit and struck out seven on 80 pitches.

"I think our guys were ready to come out and play at home," said Head Coach Jud Kindle. "We got a good pitching performance from Barnes. We took some quality at-bats and looked good all the way around."

In game two, SFCC got on the scoreboard first with a single run in the bottom of the second inning. John Wood responded with two runs in the top of the third. The Roadrunners tied the game with a single run in the bottom of the inning. John Wood added single runs in the top of the fourth and seventh innings to secure the victory.

Sophomore outfielder Brice Pannier of Sedalia had a pair of hits, including a double and a home run. Lufft scored a run. Strickert had a hit and an RBI. Sophomore infielder Brett Holden of St. Joseph and Ficken also had hits in the contest.

Sophomore pitcher Peyton Seiz of Holden started and pitched 4 1/3 innings on the mound for SFCC. He allowed five hits and three runs, only one of which was earned and struck out three. He was given the loss on the mound.

"John Wood got some key hits in that game," said Kindle. "John Wood was also able to get out of some key situations on defense. Those were the differences in that game."

Feb. 22 John Wood Community College and North Central Missouri College at Sedalia

SFCC (6-6) swept a split doubleheader from John Wood Community College and North Central Missouri College 7-2 and 10-7 on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Liberty Park Stadium-Dey Field. Both games were seven inning contests.

In game one, SFCC scored first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning and tacked on a single run in the fifth. John Wood scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning. SFCC responded with four more runs in the bottom of the inning to finish the scoring.

Holden recorded three hits in the game, including a double and two runs batted in. Ficken also had a double and a run batted in. Ruether hit a home run and drove in two runs.

Freshman pitcher Antonio Escano of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, got the start on the mound for SFCC. He pitched two innings and gave up one hit and struck out one. Freshman pitcher Rylie Rokusek of Holden picked up the victory in relief. He pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and struck out a batter.

"I thought our pitchers did a nice job of keeping us in the game," said Kindle. "We got some key hits in that game and they didn't. I thought both teams played really well."

In game two, North Central scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. SFCC scored a run in the bottom of the first and exploded for nine more in the bottom of the third. North Central added one in the sixth inning and added four in the seventh inning.

Ficken had two hits, including a double and a home run. He drove in four runs and scored twice. Holden had two hits, scored three times and drove in two runs. Lufft contributed three RBIs. Sophomore infielder Jason Gonzalez of Lee's Summit had two hits.

Freshman pitcher Andrew Clark of Belton got the start and the victory for the Roadrunners. He pitched four innings while allowing two runs on two hits. He struck out four. Redshirt freshman Tyler Abney of Sedalia recorded the final out to pick up the save.

"We were able to get off to a good start offensively to begin the game, but they came back and gave us a good run at the end of the game," said Kindle. "They put the tying run on second base, but luckily we were able to get out of it with the win."

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics