FORT DODGE, IOWA -- Ellsworth got one dominant win but lost some close contests in a weekend series against Iowa Central CC. The Panthers bounced back after 9-5 and 8-5 defeats Friday to rout the Tritons, 17-8, in game one the following day, but then missed a chance to even the series when ICCC rallied to win the finale 14-12.
In the lone ECC victory, they were down 4-2 after four innings, then had an 8-run 5th inning and followed it up with four runs in the 6th and three more in the 7th. Isaac Rohde, the second of three ECC hurlers, got the win with 3 2/3 innings of work. William Figueroa struck out two in one inning to finish up. The game featured a huge performance by the Panthers' Kainoa Torres, who was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and five driven in. Torres had one of three Ellsworth homers with Trey Morris and Bryce Hall also going yard. Morris scored four runs, Carlos Aranda three and TJ Truso two. Hall knocked in three and Truso, Morris and Aranda had two RBIs each. Ellsworth collected a dozen hits and drew 13 walks. Aranda and Ryan Boothe both walked three times.
ECC had early leads in both games Friday. They took a 3-0 lead in game one, then saw ICCC plate the next nine runs. Truso, Morris and Aranda had two-hit games and Victor Lara, Fabian Dumey, Zeb Wede and Boothe also had hits. The handful of runs were scored by five different players. Zach Carlsen and Matt Nolan each pitched three innings. Nolan allowed only two hits and one run.
Iowa Central pushed across five runs in the 5th and three more in the 6th in the nightcap after Ellsworth scored first. Aranda scored two ECC runs and he, Hall and Isaac Boley had two hits apiece. Ellsworth used five pitchers -- Gavin Busby, Elio Narvaez, Broderick Bittle, Rohde and Figueroa.
The last game saw ECC on top 5-2 going into the bottom of the 6th inning, then Iowa Central cracked the game open with nine runs in the bottom of the inning. The Panthers tried to fight back with five in the 7th and a single run each of the last two innings, but came up short. Aranda went 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs. Torres doubled twice and knocked in three. Truso had two runs and two RBIs. Again, ECC had lots of opportunities with 10 hits and 11 walks. They also stole six bases. Pitching duties belonged to Miguel Baez, Narvaez, Nolan, Cooper Johnson and Jason Moist. They combined to whiff 11, six of them by Baez. Three Elllsworth errors led to seven unearned runs for the Tritons.
The results left Ellsworth with a 12-18 season record and a conference mark of 5-13. They will be at home for six straight games this week -- two against Northeast (Neb.) on Tuesday and four next weekend against Indian Hills.