North Central Missouri College sweeps doubleheader from Eagles

 Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions

Dyersburg State was competitive on Tuesday during a non-conference doubleheader against North Central Missouri College with the Pirates taking both games of the twinbill in Dyersburg.

Game 2:

Dyersburg State was able to answer a Pirate run in the fourth but not in the sixth as North Central Missouri took the second game of the doubleheader 2-1.

Just as they had done in the opening game, the Pirates got on the board first in the second game. In the top of the fourth, Jordi Ventura groundout resulted in a run and a 1-0 North Central Missouri lead after three and a half innings.

But, the lead only lasted one pitch into the bottom of the inning as Logan Cooke sent the first pitch he saw over the centerfield wall for a solo homer. The next three batters were retired in order to send the game into the fifth, tied at 1-1.

The Eagles nearly took the lead with a long flyball by Holden Warmath in the bottom of the fifth as the Pirate centerfielder Julio Guererro robbed him of a homer for the first out of the inning.

The Pirates got things going in the top of the sixth inning, getting back-to-back singles from Alejandro Paz and Javier Saurez to lead off the inning before a passed ball allowed Paz to score the go-ahead run.  The Eagles were able to get the next three batters to leave the game at a 2-1 deficit after the top of the sixth.

From there, the Pirates faced only two over the minimum in route to the win.

The Eagles were held to just Cooke’s homer and a single from Warmath in the loss.

Game 1: North Central Missouri 9, Dyersburg State 5, 8 innings

The Eagles rallied from behind late to take a lead after six innings only to give up a run in the top of the seventh and four in the eighth to fall to the Pirates in the opening game of Tuesday’s doubleheader at home.

The Pirates got on the board in the top of the first as Wilmer Jimenez homered to left center to score two and give North Central Missouri a 2-0 lead after a half inning.

Dyersburg State got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame. Amir Streeter doubled with one out then scored on a single by Jabari Daniely to cut the Pirate lead in half at 2-1 after one inning.

North Central Missouri picked up two more with two outs in the top of the second with a two-run single by Julio Guerrero to take a 4-1 lead after an inning and a half.

Dyersburg State struck back in the bottom of the frame. A one-out single by Holden Warmath was followed two batters later by a high-flying home run by Justin Dukes to cut the North Central Missouri lead to 4-3 after two innings.

It remained a one-run game until the bottom of the fifth when Streeter homered to centerfield to tie the game. The one-out rally continued as the next three batters reached safely – a Logan Cooke single, Daniely walk and a single from Jake Santos – to load the bases. The Eagles caught a break with two outs as Cooke scored on a passed ball to give Dyersburg State its first lead of the day at 5-4 after five innings.

Back-to-back walks by the Pirates to lead off the top of the sixth got something going for North Central Missouri as a sacrifice bunt by Javier Suarez moved the runners up 90 feet. Julio Guererro drew a walk to load the bases with one out. A second pitching change of the inning followed as Francisco Lopez replaced Guillermo Cruz to face Jimenez. Lopez got Jimenez to strikeout then got a groundout to end the inning with the Eagles still ahead.

With no one out in the top of the seventh and runners at first and third, a soft liner to first resulted in an unassisted double play by Daniely to get the Eagles within one out of getting the win. But the next batter, Eduardo Churio, singled just out of the reach of the Dyersburg State second baseman to plate a run and tie the game at 5-5 and send the game into the bottom of the seventh.

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, the Pirates picked up a run in the top of the eighth on a Jimenez RBI single to break the 5-5 tie. Shodai Nishihara singled in another run. With two outs in the frame, reliever Cole Cates was lifted and replaced by Bennett Stutts. Churio tacked on two more runs with a single with two outs before a groundout ended the frame with the Pirates up 9-5.

The Eagles were then retired in order in the eight to secure the win for the Pirates.

Steeter led the way for the Eagles at the plate with a double and a home run with an RBI while Dukes had a homer and a single with two runs driven in. Daniely also had a double and a single and an RBI while Warmath had a pair of singles.

Cates took the loss on the mound in relief.

Dyersburg State returns to action on Friday when the Eagles travel to Jackson State at noon.

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