Post-Bulletin staff
WELLMAN, IOWA — The Rochester Community and Technical College baseball team ran into two tough starting pitchers and came away with a win against one of them Sunday against Kirkwood Community College.
Kirkwood beat Rochester 9-1 on a two-hitter in the first game, and Rochester came back to win the second game 1-0 in 8 innings behind its own pitching gem.
Four Rochester pitchers combined for the three-hit shutout in the second game. Shane Brandt got the win in two innings of relief, and Lee Dolan got the save. They followed scoreless stints by Brady Mosenden and Kyle Pronshinske.
"They threw their No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers against us, and all things considered, I thought we faired pretty well," Rochester coach Steve Hucke said.
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"With having to piece together our own pitching, with eight guys throwing in the two games, it was a good to get the split."
Rochester scored the winning run in the top of the eighth when Seth Karlsrud reached on a hit-by-pitch, stole second, went to third on a throwing error, and came home on Keegan Byrne’s sacrifice fly to left.
In the first game the Yellowjackets were victimized by three home runs by Kirkwood.
"We were playing on a high school field and the wind was blowing out strong to right," Hucke said. "Two of those for sure would have been fly-outs on our field."
Kyle Strand went 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the first game, scoring Justin Gregor with RCTC’s only run in the seventh. Strand also had one hit in the nightcap.
Rochester (10-15) plays doubleheaders at home Tuesday and Wednesday against Ridgewater and Riverland. Both twinbills start at 2 p.m.
KIRKWOOD 9, ROCHESTER 1
Rochester 000 000 1 — 1 2 1
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Kirkwood 700 020 x — 9 10 1
Rochester: Kyle Strand 2-3; Justin Gregor 1 run. LP: Noah Grove 1 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 SO.
ROCHESTER 1, KIRKWOOD 0, 8 INNINGS
Rochester 000 000 01 — 1 3 0
Kirkwood 000 000 00 — 0 4 2
Rochester: Dylan Berg 1-4, Nate Briscoe 1-2, Kyle Strand 1-3, Keegan Byrne game-winning RBI, Seth Karlsrud 1 R. WP: Shane Brandt 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H. SAVE: Lee Dolan 1 IP, 1 H.
