T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - Marshalltown Community College freshman Tom Josten, right, is congratulated by fellow freshman Tyler Coleman (10) after hitting a home run in the third inning of the Tigers’ 19-9 loss to Southeastern Community College in Marshalltown on Wednesday.

The second inning was not kind to the Marshalltown Community College baseball team on Wednesday against NJCAA Division II No. 5 Southeastern Community College.

After a scoreless first inning between the two teams, the Blackhawks got hot in the top of the second where they scored 15 runs on 11 hits. The Tigers fought back and actually outscored Southeastern 9-4 the rest of the way out, but it wasn’t enough as they lost 19-9.

During the second inning MCC (2-15) went through three pitchers, but it found some success with the sidearming righty Jimmy Kurka. Kurka got the final out of the second and then pitched third, fourth and fifth inning while allowing no earned runs and one hit.

While Kurka held down the Southeastern (26-6) offense, the Tiger offense slowly went to work. Luis Menendez got the MCC scoring going in the bottom of the second with a solo home run, his second of the season.

Tom Josten added another solo dinger in the bottom of the third, his fourth of the year, and a single by Elijah Bergeron brought home Candido Encarnacion to make it a 15-3 game.

After not scoring in the bottom of the fourth and allowing a run in the top of the frame, the Tigers came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth down 16-3, needing to score at least four runs to extend the game. They did more than that scoring six runs in the frame to make it a 16-9 game heading to the sixth.

Josten started it off by drawing a walk, then Tyler Coleman was hit by a pitch. Encarnacion brought them both home with a double, then he was able to score on an error that allowed Bergeron to reach first. Travon Hughes singled up the middle of the field to put runners on first and second with only one out, then Joel Torrealba smashed a monster three-run home run to center field in his first at-bat of the game.

That was the closest MCC would get in the contest, however, as Southeastern tacked on three more runs to eventually take a 19-9 victory.