The MSJC baseball team played their first home games of the 2021 season on Tuesday and the bats were up to the challenge as the Eagles scored 29 runs on 28 hits to sweep visiting Antelope Valley 15-10 and 14-6.
Ricky Nunez, who was coming off a 5 RBI day at Hancock on Sunday, had another huge day as he drove in 9 more runs and collected 6 hits on the day including a pair of homeruns. In the first game of the day Nunez hit for the cycle as he went 4 for 5 with a single, double, triple, and homer as he drove in 6 MSJC runs. Aaron Harper also had four hits in game one as he had a pair of singles to go along with a triple and a double while knocking in 3 runs. The Eagles blew open game one in the bottom of the third when they scored 8 times to push their lead to 12-1. AVC would fight back as they scored 6 in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 12-7, but a pair of runs by MSJC in the bottom of the fourth and another in the sixth gave MSJC the win in the seven inning contest 15-10. Patrick McDonald Jr. started game one on the mound and went 3 and 2/3 innings for the Eagles while also driving in a pair of runs at the plate. Jacob Covington earned the pitching victory going 2 innings in releif and Robert Barrett locked down a save as he went 1 1/3 innings allowing no runs and no hits. Andrew Rivero, Ryan Grinnals, and Russell Mitchell each added an RBI in the win.
In game two the MSJC offense went right back to work as Nunez hit a 2 run homerun in the bottom of the first to set the tone. The Eagles would score 7 times in the bottom of the second to take complete control of the contest. This time Jaden Jones, Nunez, and Rivero each drove in 3 runs a piece while McDonald drove in 2. Harper and Grinnals also had an RBI in the victory. In all the Eagles pounded out 13 hits in the 14-6 win. Max Rangel got the start on the mound for MSJC in the second game and went four complete innings, Mitchell moved form left field to the mound in the fifth and went four innings of his own allowing just 1 run to earn the victory. Barrett pitched a scorless 9th for MSJC.
The Eagles are now 3-0 on the season and return to action on Saturday as they travel to Antelope for another doubleheader. The first game on Saturday in Lancaster is set to begin at noon.