NORFOLK, NEBRASKA -- After no-hitting the ECC Panthers in the first game, Northeast CC pushed across a run in the bottom of the 7th inning to break a tie and complete the sweep on Wednesday. The Hawks won 8-0 in the opener and 9-8 in the nightcap.
The Panthers managed only 3 baserunners in game one, on a pair of walks and a hit batter. NCC scored 3 times in the 1st inning against Ellsworth starter George Hansen as the Panthers suffered their 2nd straight shutout. Jaden Morris replaced Hansen in the 2nd inning and threw 5 innings in relief.
ECC finally got untracked offensively in the 1st inning of the second game, scoring 4 runs, and they added 2 more in the 3rd. Northeast rallied with 5 runs in the bottom of the 3rd to go on top, 7-6, and ECC tied the score at 7-all in the 7th. But the Hawks got the game-winning tally in the bottom of the 7th. Ellsworth had 14 hits, 3 of them by Jose Valentin and 2 apiece by Tanner Short, Dariel Colon, Nick Chasey and Luke Saxton. Both of Chasey's hits were triples and he had 2 RBIs. Short, Colon and Chasey scored 2 runs and Valentin, Colon and Jose Roche all doubled. Jake English got the start for ECC and went 3 innings. Logan Fragomeni pitched 3 1/3 innings and Will Johnson got the last 5 outs.
The Panthers go on the road for 3 games at Kirkwood this weekend.