Brainerd, Minn. - 


The Northland Community & Technical College baseball team split its double header with MCAC Northern Division rival Minnesota North College - Itasca Wednesday afternoon at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. 

Itasca scored 10 combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings to break a 2-2 tie and eventually claim a 12-2 win over Northland in game one.  

David Perez and Freddy Landman scored the only runs of the game for the Pioneers and they briefly gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead through two innings of play. 

The Vikings tied the game with a single tally in the fourth inning. They added four runs in the fifth and six runs in the sixth to break the game open. 

Itasca stayed hot early in game two, scoring two runs in the top of the first and three more in the top of the third. 

The Pioneers took their first lead of the game with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth. 

The Vikings regained the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth to go in front 8-7, but the Pioneers again aswerd and tookt he lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. 

Matthew Zepeda led the Pioneers with three hits and five runs batted in on the day. Overall, the Pioneers collected 13 hits on the day. 

The loss to the Pioneers was MNC - Itasca's first against an MCAC Northern Division opponent. MNC - Itasca's record is 19-13 overall and 9-1 in the MCAC North. Northland improved to 10-14 overall and 3-5 against MCAC North foes. 


Game 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Itasca 1 0 0 1 4 6 X - 12 10 1
NCTC 0 2 0 0 0 0 X - 2 5 4

Batting

Northland AB R H RBI BB SO
C. Hoyt (LF)  3 0 2 0 0 0
K. Kempert (CF)  3 0 0 0 0 0
A. Rodriguez (SS)  1 0 0 0 2 1
I. Lopez (3B)  3 0 0 0 0 1
O. Manhas (2B)  2 0 0 0 0 0
A. Venegas  0 0 0 0 0 0
D. Perez (1B)  2 1 1 0 0 1
J. Perez  0 0 0 0 1 0
J. Campos  2 0 0 0 0 0
I. Tavarez  1 0 0 0 0 1
F. Landman (RF)  2 1 1 1 0 0
M. Salazar  1 0 0 0 0 0
M. Zepeda (C)  2 0 1 0 0 0
Totals  22 2 5 1 3 4
Offensive highlights - 3B: F. Landman, TB: F. Landman 3, C. Hoyt 2, D Perez, M Zepeda , HBP: A Venegas, SB: A Rodriguez, C Hoyt 3, LOB: 6

Pitching

Northland IP H R ER BB SO
I Mata  5.1 10  12 5 5 5
T John  0.2 0 0 0 1 0
Game 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Itasca 3 0 2 0 0 3 0 - 8 7 4
NCTC 0 0 0 7 0 3 X - 10 13 1

Batting

Northland AB R H RBI BB SO
C Hoyt (CF) 3 1 1 1 1 1
K Kempert (P) 4 0 0 0 0 1
A Rodriguez (SS) 4 2 2 0 0 0
J Perez (1B)  3 1 0 0 1 1
O Manhas (2B)  3 2 2 1 0 0
I Lopez (3B)  3 0 1 0 0 1
M Zepeda (C)  4 0 3 5 0 1
F Landman (RF)  4 1 2 1 0 2
I Mata (LF)  4 1 2 2 0 1
CR: A Venegas  0 2 0 0 0 0
Totals  32 10 13 10 2 8
Offensive highlights - 2B: M Zepeda, I Mata; 3B: F Landman; TB: M Zepeda 4, C Hoyt, I Mata 3, I Lopez , A Rodriguez 2, O Manhas 2, F Landman 4, SAC: I Lopez , HBP: O Manhas, SB: JPerez, I Lopez, K Kempert, A Rodriguez, O Manhas; LOB: 8

Pitching

Northland IP H R ER BB SO
K. Kempert  5.0 4 7 7 6 3
N. Warne  1.0 2 1 1 1 0
J. Lopez  1.0 1 0 0 0 1