Mavericks deal MCC baseball 6-1 setback

CELINA, Texas – Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa improved to 11-0 on the season with a 6-1 win Saturday over McCook Community College. MCC’s game with Garden City was cancelled because of a scheduling issue with the umpires.

“We played a lot better today against them than yesterday,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. “I thought we competed – and they have a nice club, but we just didn’t really get anything going offensively.”

The Mavericks scored a first-inning run and never trailed. With one out in the bottom of the first, MCC freshman pitcher Aviv Bobrov (Shekhanya, Israel) issued a one-out walk, followed by a two-base MCC error and a dropped third strike to put the Mavericks up 1-0.

NOC-Tonkawa maintained the 1-0 lead until the fourth when the offense scored three times. It started with a leadoff home run followed by a single, double, an RBI single and an RBI-groundout. Bobrov pitched four innings, allowed six hits, three earned runs, one walk and he struck out three.

The Mavs added two more in the fifth off sophomore reliever Jean Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) who was greeted with a leadoff double and a two-run homer then retired the final six hitters he faced.

MCC got on the scoreboard in the seventh when the offense got two of their three hits in the game. After a leadoff single by freshman Dalton Berg (Frederick, Colo.) and a walk by Carter Smith (freshman Ottawa, Canada), freshman Connor Charvat (Omaha) singled to right field to drive home Berg.

MCC’s other hit in the game came on a first-inning single by sophomore Maddox Shaver (Belleville, Ontario).

“I thought we had a lot better approaches and at bats, there were flashes today of things getting there but obviously haven’t put it all together yet and have faced a pretty tough schedule, so we will get back and get back to work, stick with it and keep getting there.”

Weather permitting, MCC (0-5) is scheduled to open at home Feb. 22-23 with a pair of doubleheaders against Bismarck State. The Mystics are coming off a 33-10 season and have not played any games this season. First pitch both days in McCook is set for noon.

Up-to-date information about MCC baseball including livestream links, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com