IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- Ellsworth overcame an early 4-0 deficit, crushed 4 more home runs and completed a 3-game sweep of Marshalltown CC with a 13-8 victory on Saturday.  Two of the 4 homers came off the bat of Jose Valentin, giving the sophomore 10 long balls for the spring and 17 for his ECC career.  Tanner Short and Jose Roche also homered with Short taking the team lead with 11.  The Panthers upped their season HR total to 54.

Marshalltown hit Ellsworth with a 4-spot in the top of the 1st before the Panthers responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning.  ECC tied the score in the 3rd, then took the lead with 4 runs in the 4th.  They got 2 more in the 5th and 3 in the 6th.

Roche had a single and a triple to go with his 5th homer, part of a 19-hit attack.  Valentin knocked in 4 runs and Short and Daviel Camacho each had 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored.  Nick Chasey supplied 2 hits.

Connor Cox weathered the early MCC runs and lasted 5 innings to get the pitching victory.  Jake English threw a perfect inning of relief and Logan Fragomeni and Evan Becker also pitched out of the bullpen before Will Johnson retired 5 of the 6 batters he faced to pick up a save.

The Panthers' season record is now 18-14 and they are 12-6 in the conference.  They have gone 16-7 since Mar. 13 and have a team batting average of .354 over that 23-game span, averaging 11.2 hits per game and slugging 49 home runs.  After homering only 6 times in their first 13 games and 11 in the first 23 contests, the Panthers have cranked out 43 HRs over the past 9 games.

Ellsworth plays Indian Hills at home on Tuesday.