Rochester, MN - In a battle of two of the top teams in the Southern Division Riverland and RCTC baseball did not disappoint. The two teams battled on a cold and windy day at Mayo Field, and when the dust settled the Jackets walked away with two wins. RCTC one game one 5-4 in thrilling come from behind fashion. Game two saw the Jackets jump out early, withstand a Riverland surge, and win 10-4.
In game one, the pitchers for both teams threw gems with Riverland's Max Schumacher gojng 8 2/3 in the loss, while RCTC's Drew Simmons went 8 innings allowing only 1 earned run to take a no decision. RCTC got on the board early, as Carlos Martinez homered in the third inning of what ended up being a monster day for the freshman catcher. The Jackets picked up run number 2 in the third inning as Blake Schilling singled scoring Gabe Sepulveda. Riverland then took advantage of two RCTC errors to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth. RCTC answered back with a homerun off the bat of Yanseph Llanos in the bottom of the frame. From there it was all pitching as the two starters combined for scoreless innings from the 5th thru 8th. With Simmons leaving the ballgame in the 9th Riverland scored the go ahead run on an RCTC miscue. Riverland's Cameron Scot laid down a sacrifice bunt and was out at first base, however the Jackets didn't have anyone covering third base. Runner Jared Grams took advantage and headed all the way to third from first, where an errant throw got past the Jackets and into left field allowing Grams to score the go ahead run. From there RCTC pitcher Alec Dietl sttled in and retired the Blue Devils to head to the bottom of the ninth.
In the ninth, with Schumacher still on the hill the Jackets had a runner on first but were down to their final out. Lead-off man Will Pacheco then hit a towering fly ball triple to the wall in center scoring Klayton Hawkins from first to tie the game. The next batter up for the Jackets Gustavo Gonzalez then stepped to the plate. On the first pitch Gonzalez hit a bomb to left field for what appeared to be a game winning two run homerun. In the ensuing celebration, Gonzalez was called out when, after reaching first base, an RCTC player made contact with Gonzalez. The official ruling on the field turned the homerun into and RBI single, with the Jackets winning the game 5-4 as Pacheco scored from third.
Simmons went 8 innings, allowing only 1 earned run, while striking out 7. Pacheco had 2 hits, including the game-tying triple, while Klayton Hawkins also picked up a pair of hits.
In game two, the Jackets got another gem on the hill as Brady Nelson went 6 innings allowing only 6 hits and 3 earned runs. Nelson got all of the run support he needed in the first inning. Carlos Martinez hit his second homerun, a three run shot, in the opening inning while Blake Schilling scored on a wild pitch to give the Jackets a 4-0 lead. Riverland got all of their runs on a 3-run homerun in the third inning by Drew Copley. The Jackets got additional homeruns in the game from Blake Schilling and Gabe Sepulveda, while Martinez hit two in the game.
For the day Martinez was 4-7 with 3 homeruns, 7 RBI, and 3 runs scored.
The Jackets will take on Riverland in the final two games of their season series on Tuesday in Austin. FIrst pitch is scheduled for 2:00pm
