T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown senior second baseman Jiancarlo Lopez throws to first baseman Kinnick Niedermann (31) for the out during the first game of Wednesday's baseball doubleheader against Mason City at the MHS diamond.

With the prospect of wins on the horizon with a doubleheader the next night at Waterloo East, the Marshalltown baseball team saved back its primary pitchers for Wednesday’s Iowa Alliance Conference twinbill against Mason City.

The Riverhawks, receiving votes in the latest Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings, relished the opportunity and racked up 35 runs in a doubleheader sweep at the MHS diamond.

Marshalltown pitching issued a combined 36 walks and hit batsmen on the night and fell to Mason City by scores of 17-0 and 18-4, making it 36-straight in the series.

The Bobcats (6-24, 1-13) honored the lone senior on the varsity roster — Jiancarlo Lopez — by playing him the entirety of both games.

“He did everything right, he wore that Bobcat jersey with pride, he was very selfless in everything that he did,” said MHS head coach Colton Hanke. “Regardless of his role, he was always there for anybody and everybody. It was great to watch him perform the way he did. He did well, he held is ground, so it was great to see that.”

Lopez has been a part of the Bobcat baseball program since eighth grade, and in four seasons on the varsity roster he played in 17 games. He went 0-for-3 at the plate on Wednesday but made 5-of-7 plays that came his way at second base on the night.

“We provided him that experience and he took advantage of it,” Hanke added.

Opportunities were few and far between for the Bobcats, who had just four hits in the first game before scoring four times in their first at-bat of the second game.

In the opener, MHS got singles from Garrett Thede and Luke Stalzer and doubles from Larrs Schoenfelder and Quinn McLeod, but Mason City (27-8, 12-2) made the most of its six hits thanks to 17 walks issued by pitchers McLeod, Wyatt Peters and Kinnick Niedermann.

In the nightcap, pitchers James Miron, Niedermann and Peters issued 19 free passes as the Bobcats kept its main arms in the tank looking ahead to Thursday night’s Alliance finale.

Mason City scored seven times in the top of the first inning, but Marshalltown countered with its four runs in the bottom half.

Thede reached with a one-out walk but was erased on a fielder’s choice grounder off the bat of Jalen Logsdon. Madden Martin singled before three-straight doubles from McLeod, Schoenfelder and Stalzer made it 7-4.

Aiden Holmgren led off the second by hammering a 1-0 fastball for a double down the left-field line, but the ‘Cats couldn’t take advantage of the scoring chance and never reached second base again.

“I thought tonight we did fairly well in terms of handling the bat,” Hanke said. “We were plating runs and they were starting to scramble there a little bit, so it was nice to see that pressure being applied there. The guys ran bases very well.”

Vance Anderson started both games for Mason City and earned both wins as well. Eli Schultz led the Riverhawks at the plate, going 4-for-9 with a double and seven RBIs on the night.

The Bobcats made only four errors in the twinbill, but two were by Lopez, one was an errant pickoff attempt and another was a throwing error. For the most part, MHS picked up and caught the ball when called upon.

“We gave up a lot of walks and that doesn’t help, but when we were around the zone and guys were hitting fly balls or ground balls, I thought we fielded them for the most part OK,” Hanke said. “There’s been nights where we can’t really field the ball, but tonight I wasn’t too concerned when a ball got hit. I had a good feeling the play was going to be made.”