Wesleyan creates some space in MCC standings with sweep of Mustangs

Jorge Martinez threw his third straight shutout in the first game and Iowa Wesleyan College went on to sweep a doubleheader from Mt. Mercy University Sunday afternoon in Midwest Collegiate Conference play.

The Tigers defeated the Mustangs 8-0 in the first game and followed that up with a 7-1 win to run their win streak to six straight games. With a pair of losses by Ashford University on Sunday, IWC takes over sole possession of first place in the conference standings, improving to 13-6 in the MCC (25-18 overall).

Wesleyan also moved 3 1/2 games ahead of Mt. Mercy in the conference standings and is closer to clinching a berth in the MCC Tournament. In a still tightly packed group, the Tigers are 2 1/2 games in front of fifth-place Ashford with five conference games left in the season.

IWC got home runs from Drew Koeppel, Lino Sampson and Roderick Barcelo in the opener. Koeppel hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead, and Sampson and Barcelo went back-to-back in the seventh inning, including a three-run shot by Sampson to blow the game open.

Martinez meanwhile was dominant once again, allowing just two hits and throwing his third straight Sunday shutout, running his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 25. He allowed just two hits, getting 12 fly ball outs while striking out two and walking one to improve to 7-1 this season.

The Tigers got another stout pitching performance from Jacob Sanchez in the second game. Sanchez threw a complete game, the fifth straight complete game thrown by a Wesleyan pitcher, and allowing seven hits and one unearned run while striking out five.

Run support arrived for Sanchez in the middle innings, scoring twice in the fifth to open the scoring and adding five runs in the sixth to gain control. Josh Sturges and Michael Mendoza both singled in runs in the fifth inning, and a five-run sixth began when Neil Yemm reached on his fifth hit of the day and Jay Olson followed with a two-run home run to make it 4-0.

Sturges and Yemm both had three hits in the second game. Wesleyan outhit Mt. Mercy (17-16 overall, 9-8 MCC) 20-9 on the day and committed just one error to seven errors by the Mustangs.

IWC will have a chance to deal a blow to another of its pursuers on Monday when it hosts Waldorf College at 3 p.m. Monday afternoon at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex, weather and field conditions permitting. Waldorf sits at 12-6 in the MCC, one-half game behind the Tigers. The nine-inning game is a makeup date for the game originally scheduled Friday night.

BOX SCORE - GAME 1

IWC 8, MT. MERCY 0

R H E

IWC ?          200 020 4 - 8 10 0

Mt. Mercy ? 000 000 0 - 0 2 4

AB R H BI

IWC ? Christensen 2b 4 1 0 0, Sturges ss 4 1 1 0, Mendoza, Mi. cf 4 2 1 1, Koeppel 1b 3 1 1 3, Griffin pr 0 1 0 0, Sampson dh 3 1 1 3, Barcelo lf 3 1 2 1, Prieto c 4 0 0 0, Yemm rf 4 0 2 0, Olson 3b 3 0 2 0 - Totals ? 32 8 10 8

Mt. Mercy ? Rodriguez, David ss 3 0 0 0, Diaz, Albert 2b 2 0 0 0, Glunt, Jeremy 1b 3 0 0 0 Franco, Paul dh 3 0 1 0, Pankow, Brent rf 3 0 0 0, Heumann, Alex lf 2 0 0 0, Thompson, Jacob 3b 2 0 1 0, BeGuhn, Dustin cf 2 0 0 0, Sargent, Chris c 2 0 0 0 - Totals ? 22 0 2 0

IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO

IWC ? Martinez, J. (W) 7.0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 22 23 12 6

Mt. Mercy ? Hotchkiss, Phil (L) 6.0 7 4 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 25 29 8 7, Keeney, Ben 0.0 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 0 0, Byers, Robert 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 1 1

GAME 2

IWC 7, MT. MERCY 1

R H E

IWC ?           000 025 0 - 7 10 1

Mt. Mercy ? 000 001 0 - 1 7 3

AB R H BI

IWC ? Christensen 2b 3 1 1 0, Sturges ss 4 1 3 1, Mendoza, Mi. cf 4 1 2 2, Koeppel 1b 2 0 0 0, Sampson dh 3 0 0 0, Barcelo lf 4 0 0 0, Prieto c 4 0 0 0, Yemm rf 4 2 3 0, Olson 3b 4 2 1 2 - Totals ? 32 7 10 5

Mt. Mercy ? Rodriguez, David ss 4 0 0 0, Diaz, Albert 2b/3b 4 0 1 0, Glunt, Jeremy 1b 3 1 1 0, Franco, Paul dh/lf 3 0 2 0, Del Rio, Rafael c 2 0 0 1, Heumann, Alex lf/cf 3 0 1 0, Pankow, Brent rf 3 0 0 0, Thompson, Jacob 3b 1 0 0 0, Turner, Kevin ph 1 0 1 0, Salas, Matthew 2b 1 0 1 0, Bearbower, Eric cf/p 2 0 0 0 - Totals ? 27 1 7 1

IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO

IWC ? Sanchez, J. (W) 7.0 7 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 27 29 9 7

Mt. Mercy ? Weber, Derrick (L) 5.1 8 5 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 24 28 7 6, BeGuhn, Dustin  0.0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0, Bearbower, Eric  1.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 2 3