By: Justin Hargrove, NTCC Assistant Athletic Director
The Northeast Texas Community College Eagles baseball team (13-23, 7-14) continued a three-game series against Panola College (29-11, 14-7) Friday with a doubleheader at home. Fresh off a win at Panola on Thursday, the Eagles managed to split the for the day, winning game two 9-3 and dropping game three 12-11.
Panola kicked off scoring in game two, scoring one in the first inning. NTCC answered with a single by Matt Scheurich, a double by Isaac Rivera, and a single by Michael Bernhardt in the bottom of the first inning to give the Eagles a 4-1 lead.
After Panola hit back-to-back solo homeruns in the third, Scheurich came out dominant for the Eagles with a homerun to right center field. NTCC added two more runs in the inning to increase the lead to 7-3 and never looked back. The Eagles added the final two runs in the bottom of the six when John Michael Russ scored on a wild pitch and Jonathan Carrillo scored on a single by Jake Chapman.
NTCC tallied 11 hits in the game. Rivera, Cody Cleveland, Chapman, and Scheurich all managed multiple hits for the Eagles. Rivera went 3-4 at the plate to lead NTCC in hits.
Chandler Mauldin got the win for NTCC, pitching seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits, striking out six and walking one. Tyler Davis started the game for Panola College. He allowed four hits and four runs over one inning, striking out one.
The Eagles fell behind early in game three and were unable to catch up, despite a strong offensive effort. Going to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, the Eagles were down by five runs. Back-to-back walks, followed by back-to-back errors by Panola, a groundout by Russ and a single by Jonathon Carrillo put four more on the board for the Eagles, but they were unable to pull off the comeback. Brian Juarez, Andy DeLeon, Russ, and Carrillo each drove in runs during the ninth inning rally.
The final score was 12-11 in favor of Panola. Trey Lindsey toed the rubber for Panola going six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out five.
Tyler Navarro was on the mound for NTCC in game three of the series. He surrendered six runs on eight hits over four and two-thirds innings, striking out two. Javan Smitherman, Mikel Howell, and Garrett Chappell each contributed in relief for NTCC.
The Eagles scattered 13 hits in the game. Carrillo, Isaac Rivera, and Russ all collected multiple hits for NTCC Eagles Varsity. Carrillo went 3-6 at the plate to lead NTCC in hits.
