By: Justin Hargrove, NTCC Assistant Athletic Director
Northeast Texas Community College Baseball traveled to Lufkin on Saturday to take on Angelina College in games two and three of the opening conference series. Angelina would take down the Eagles 6-1 in game one and 7-6 in game two of the day to earn the series win.
After scoring 11 runs in game one on Thursday, the Angelina pitcher kept the NTCC offense in check in game two of the series. NTCC was limited to just five hits and one run on the day. Cody Cleveland would go two for three with a solo homerun in the sixth inning to provide the only Eagles run.
Hayden Shaddox was on the mound for four and one-third innings giving up four hits, striking out three Roadrunners. Only one of the three runs given up by Shaddox were earned, as two fielding errors by NTCC proved costly. Sawyer Smallwood would pitch one and two-thirds innings as well in the loss.
In game two of the day, game three of the series, NTCC would get back on track offensively scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Five singles along with a fielder’s choice and a walk would allow the Eagles to get on the board first. Angelina would answer back with a run of their own in the first to cut the lead to 3-1. Both teams would each add a run in the second inning to bring the score to 4-2 and Angelina would capture the lead in the third inning plating three more runs to go up 5-4.
NTCC tried to answer back scoring another run in the fourth and one final run in the top of the ninth but it was not enough to overcome three more errors which allowed Angelina to add more runs as well. The Eagle offense had 12 hits in game three of the series, with Nico Baumbach leading the way with three hits while Cody Cleveland and Jacob Rosales added two hits each.
NTCC sent four Eagles to the mound in game three, Justin Lambright got the start before giving way to Chance Bolter, Kaleb Wisnoski, and Camden Sargent. The pitching staff combined for five strike outs on the day but gave up 7 walks in the loss.
