The Marshalltown Community College baseball team’s losing streak reached 10 games Monday afternoon with a pair of losses in an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference doubleheader against NJCAA Division I No. 12 Iowa Western. The Reivers (31-10, 11-1 ICCAC) controlled just about every facet of the twinbill on Shawn Williams Field, taking game one 14-3 in five innings, and then dispatching the Tigers 13-2 in six innings in the nightcap.

The opposition has outscored MCC 88-30 during the 10-game skid.

“We’re not playing real good baseball right now,” said Tiger head coach Rich Grife. “We’re hurt a lot of places with some arms down. Just not a good combination right now. We have to come out of it, and make the second swing back through the conference and try to pick ourselves up. Get things going back our way.”

With more than a handful of pro scouts on hand to get an up-close look, Iowa Western starting pitcher Daniel Tillo for the most part quieted the Tiger bats in the opener. Tillo retired the first seven Tiger batters he faced, striking out five of them. MCC (14-21, 4-8 ICCAC) finally got to him to score three in the third, but the Reivers already had a nine-run advantage after scoring eight in the second.

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM RING • Marshalltown Community College shortstop Jose Mieses throws to first base for an out in the second game of a doubleheader against Iowa Western Community College Monday. MCC came up short in both games, 14-3 and 13-2.

Kaleb Hanks was the first Tiger to reach base with a one-out walk in the third. Jose Mieses earned MCC’s first hit with a two-out infield hit when shortstop Eric Mingus made a diving stop, but didn’t attempt a throw to first. Tony Salato knocked in MCC’s first run with a RBI hit up the middle, and after Mieses and Salato moved up 90 feet on a passed ball, both scored on a Luis Duran base knock up the middle.

Tillo then went back to his dominating ways, setting down the Tigers 1-2-3 in the fourth, and pitched around an error in the fifth to close out the game. Tillo finished the day giving up the three runs on four hits, walking just one and striking out seven.

Grife said the Tigers are struggling mentally right now with how banged up the team is, but he also feels MCC just needs a couple breaks to go its way to get back into it.

“They’re trying to find their way,” he said. “Had a couple close games at Kirkwood and Indian Hills last weekend that just a couple breaks and we win both of those to get a little momentum. We ended up not winning those. We’re on a tough stretch.”

The Reivers went with a different pitching strategy in the second game that lasted six frames. Six different pitchers each tossed an inning. The pitching staff scattered six Tiger hits during the game, only walking one while striking out four. The Tigers jumped on Iowa Western starter Jeremy Moyer in the first inning. Duran knocked out a two out base hit to center. Then, when center fielder Chris Botsoe fumbled grounding the ball and took his time getting the throw back in, Duran scurried to second base. Diogen Ceballos then drove Duran in with a base hit.

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM RING

The Tigers wouldn’t light up the scoreboard until the fifth inning on a Hanks leadoff home run to left, but by that time, the Reivers had put a 4-spot up in the fourth and a 5-spot up in the fifth.

MCC is back on the home diamond this afternoon for a single game against Southeastern Community College. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.

“Hopefully come with a good attitude every day, and they’re doing a good job of that,” Grife said of trying to break the streak. “They’re not giving up.”

At Marshalltown

Game One

Iowa Western CC 14, Marshalltown CC 3, 5 innings

IWCC 180 05 — 14 10 1

MCC 003 00 — 3 4 1

Dan Tillo and John Hawk; Adam Barrett, Brett Braida (2), Holt Hunzuker (5), Tryston Durham (5) and Tony Salato. WP–Tillo. LP–Barrett (1-1). 2B–IWCC: Hagen Holmstead, Kobe Hyland, John Hawk. LOB–IWCC 6, MCC 6.

Game Two

Iowa Western 13, Marshalltown CC 2, 6 innings

IWCC 011 452 — 13 10 2

MCC 100 010 — 2 6 5

Jeremy Moyer, Parker Shreve (2), Ryan Connolly (3), Ben Dotzler (4), Matthew Burgess (5), Indigo Diaz (6) and John Hawk; Diogen Ceballos, Greg Glass (4), Gage Ryder (5) and Carter Eldridge. WP–Shreve. LP–Ceballos (4-3). 2B–IWCC: Ryan Sullivan, Breyden Eckhout; MCC: Carter Eldridge. HR–IWCC: Eckhout 2, Sullivan; MCC: Kaleb Hanks. LOB–IWCC 7, MCC 6.