WNCC baseball falls twice to Luna

WNCC baseball falls twice to Luna
(WNCC)
March 20th, 2023 | WNCC Sports Information

The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team hit plenty of home runs, but the Cougars dropped a pair of Empire Conference contests to Luna Community College Sunday afternoon at Cleveland Field.

The first game saw Luna jump out to a 6-0 lead and the Roughriders went on to win 12-4.

The second game was offensive as the two teams combined for 29 hits and WNCC hit three home runs. With the score tied at 8-8 entering the seventh, Luna plated two runs to get the win 10-9.

The second game was close from the get-go as the two teams traded leads. Luna took a 1-0 lead in the second before WNCC answered with three in the bottom of the second. Dylan Howard led off with a walk followed by Roangeraud Fraai getting a walk. Both runners scored on a Bryce Peterson single and Peterson came in to score on a Shintaro Inoue single for the 3-1 lead.

That lead was short-lived as Luna came back with four in the third for a 5-3 lead. WNCC got one back in the bottom of the third as Ethan Johnson doubled in Garrett Dodd.

Luna kept scoring as they added two in the fourth for a 7-4, only to watch WNCC get a single run in the bottom of the fourth when Inoue scores on a Dylan Harris sacrifice fly.

Luna went up 8-5 with a single run in the fifth. WNCC answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Johnson led off with a triple and then Fraai rocketed a home run over the right field fence for a 2-run shot. Peterson followed with a home run practically in the same spot as Fraai to tie the game.

Neither team scored in the sixth. Luna added two runs in the seventh on a double, triple, and a dropped third strike.

WNCC mounted a comeback as Johnson homered to lead off the frame to cut the deficit to one. Peterson than walked with one out, but a game-ending double play ended the comeback.

WNCC had four players finish with two or more hits. Johnson led the way with a 3-for-4 performance and was a single away from hitting for the cycle with a double, triple, home run, three runs scored, and two RBIs.

Collecting two hits each were Fraai, Peterson, and Inoue. Fraai had a home run with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Peterson had a home run with two runs scored and three RBIs. Inoue had a double with a run scored and an RBI.

The first game saw Luna score early as they had one in the first and five in the second for a 6-0 lead. WNCC got one back in the bottom of the second on a Tyler Easter solo home run.

Luna added a single run in the third for a 7-1 lead. WNCC added two in the fourth when Fraai doubled home Jacob Jackson and Isaac Smith to narrow the deficit to 7-3.

Luna added three more in the sixth and two more runs in the seventh for a 12-3 lead. WNCC scored once in the seventh as they loaded the bases with just one out on free passes. Fraai then scored by stealing home, but the inning was ended on the base paths.

The first game saw WNCC manage just five hits to Luna’s 12. Easter had a home run in the game while Fraai had a double.

WNCC and Luna will be back on the diamond for another doubleheader Monday at Cleveland Field.

Game 1

Luna                      151 003 2 – 12 12 0

WNCC                   010 200 1 – 4 5 4

LP – Wyatt Zsidisin.

2B – Roangeraud Fraai.

HR – Tyler Easter.

Game 2
Luna                      014 210 2 – 10 16 0

WNCC                   031 130 1 – 9 13 1

LP – Thibault Mercadier.

2B – Dylan Harris, Shintaro Inoue, Ethan Johnson
3B – Ethan Johnson.

HR – Roangeraud Fraai, Ethan Johnson, Bryce Peterson

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