NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College baseball team was again home at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Baseball Field in Norfolk Wednesday for a doubleheader with Southeast Community College. The Hawks dropped Game 1 by a final score of 4-3 before rallying back and triumphing in Game 2 by a final score of 6-5.
Northeast (10-10) scored two of their three runs in the first showdown of the day off a two-run blast from Jack Borgmann (Norfolk, Neb.) in the fourth inning in what was the young freshman’s second homer in the last week. Gabe Rodriguez (Thornton, Colo.) was strong during his start on the mound as he went five innings and allowed just two hits while striking out four batters. The contest scheduled for seven innings went to the eighth where the Bobcats went on to score in the top half of the frame to take the victory.
Game 2 was another tight affair that featured both squads trading the lead throughout the matchup. The Bobcats scored two runs in their half of the seventh inning to send a game to extra innings for the second time during the doubleheader and the ballgame remained tied until Derek Woolwine (Boulder, Colo.) came to the plate in the bottom half of the ninth inning. The sophomore singled to score Kale Jensen (Central City, Neb.) and propel the Hawks over Southeast to secure a split of the day.
STAT SHEET GAME 1:
Jack Borgmann (Norfolk, Neb.): 1-3, HR, R, 2 RBI
Cade Grevengoed (West Des Moines, Iowa): 2-3, RBI
Gabe Rodriguez (Thornton, Colo.): 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 K
STAT SHEET GAME 2:
Derek Woolwine (Boulder, Colo.): 2-4, R, 2 RBI
Cade Grevengoed (West Des Moines, Iowa): 1-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB
Brice Wallar (Papillion, Neb.): 1.1 IP, H, 0 ER, K
HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:
Head Baseball Coach Marcus Clapp on the split with Southeast:
“It’s always nice to split,” Clapp said. “It’s always nice to win Game 2 to finish the day. It’s one of those days that you’re excited that you won, but at the same time I felt like we let one slip away. I felt like that was a day that we could have swept. We have to do a better job of closing games out. Give them credit, but also some tough luck that we pick and it hits off the guys foot. It’s hard for us to close games right now, and it shouldn’t be that hard. We’ll take the split. They’re obviously a good club, but we still have to figure ourselves out.”
Clapp on his team showing improvement during their recent contests:
“We show signs,” Clapp said. “There are signs of us figuring it out, but then all of the sudden we’ll have three or four innings where it’s nonexistent again. I thought we pitched really well in Game 1 and then all of the sudden the last two innings here we go again. We are 10-10. That kind of explains it right there. I feel like we’ve played well 10 games and played bad 10 games. That’s just the consistency that we have to keep working on.”
UP NEXT:
The Hawks again be at home over the weekend and will take on Minnesota West Community & Technical College in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Baseball Field in Norfolk.
