WNCC baseball team drops season-opening doubleheader to Seward County

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Scottsbluff Star-Herald

LIBERAL, Kan. - After having its season opener pushed back three days because of poor weather, the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team finally opened its 2009 campaign on Monday against 25th-ranked Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kan.

The Cougars dropped both games of the doubleheader. Despite a furious rally attempt, WNCC lost game one 9-6 before falling 7-4 in game two. WNCC will be right back in action today at Pratt Community College. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for noon.

"It's about what we expected," WNCC coach Mike Jones said of Monday's opening games. "We didn't play very well defensively and our pitchers made a lot of mistakes by leaving a lot of good pitches over the plate. Offensively we were overly aggressive, we tried to do way too much and we didn't stay very disciplined at the plate. But it was our first day out. We expected the guys to be a little anxious and try a little too hard. That's basically what led to a lot of the mistakes that we did make."

After falling behind 7-1 in game one, WNCC erupted for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to close within 7-6. However, Seward County pushed across a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to preserve the win.

Jason Sloan paced WNCC offensively in the game as he went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in. He also connected on a pair of doubles. WNCC finished the game with seven hits.

"We put together a really good rally there in the sixth, and we even had the bases loaded when the inning ended," Jones said. "We put together some good at-bats, but unfortunately we came up just a little short."

Victor Rubio took the loss on the mound in the opener. He struck out one and gave up six hits in 4 2/3 innings of work.

The Cougars were again forced to play from behind in game two as Seward County scored four runs in the second inning to take a 4-0 advantage. WNCC cut the lead in half with two runs in the third before the home team plated three more runs in the bottom of the third to take a 7-2 lead. WNCC scored its final two runs in the top of the fifth.

Offensively in the game, both teams collected seven hits. However, WNCC was plagued with five errors defensively.

Ronald Miller led the Cougars offensively by going 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs batted in. Sloan and Trace Marsden both had doubles in the contest, while Jared Baros went 1-for-3 and drove in a run.

Enrique Gonzalez took the loss on the mound. He gave up seven hits and struck out three in four innings of work.

WNCC (0-2) will send a pair of freshman right-handers to the mound today in Ben Doran and Armani Gonzalez.

The Cougars were scheduled to finish their Kansas road trip on Wednesday with a doubleheader at Barton County Community College. However, Jones said those games have been postponed.

Game One
WNCC 000 015 0 - 6 7 2
Seward County 120 132 x - 9 8 1
WP - Holub. LP - Victor Rubio (0-1).
2B - Jason Sloan (2).

Game Two
WNCC (0-2) 002 020 0 - 4 7 5
Seward County 043 000 x - 7 7 3
WP - Stevens. LP - Enrique Gonzalez (0-1).
2B - Trace Marsden, Sloan.