Concordia, KS- The Cloud County Community College baseball team split a doubleheader with the McCook Indians on Monday afternoon at Lee Doyen Field. It was the fourth consecutive doubleheader split for the Thunderbirds. 

Cloud (7-6) used a solid pitching performance from sophomore John Stiger to earn a 9-5 win in the opener before dropping game two 11-3.

"We haven't been able to put together a complete day of baseball lately. It's been good, bad, and ugly at times in each of our last few doubleheaders, said Head Coach Eric Gilliland. 

Stiger and McCook righthander Chase Adams, a University of Texas Rio Grande Valley signee, dualed in game one. It was a six run 5th inning that burst it open for the Thunderbirds. Tied at two, Cloud got the big blow off the bat of sophomore Jacob Grady. Grady blasted a two run shot to left to spur the rally and give Cloud the lead for good.

Gabe Jacobo worked a scoreless 7th to secure the win. Stiger went 6 innings allowing 5 runs, 3 earned on 6 hits. He struck out 8 and walked 5. 

"John made big pitches when he needed to. He worked in and out of some big jams today," Gilliland said. 

Cloud scored first again in game two as Matt Bondarchuk led off the game with a double and later scored on a sac fly by Grady. 

McCook got to T-Bird starter Patrick Rosborough in the 3rd inning sending all nine hitters to the plate and scoring five runs to take a 5-1 lead. They then added single runs in the 4th and 5th innings to extend their lead. A two-out grandslam in the 6th secured an 11-3 advantage for McCook. 

Five T-Bird errors were a large culprit in the game two loss. Just four of the 11 McCook runs were earned. Cloud also stranded runners in two of the final three innings.

"Pitching and defense wins. They did those things better than us in game two," Gilliland said.  

Freshman Matt Bondarchuk had four hits on the day including two doubles. He ranks second in the region in stolen bases with 11. 

The Thunderbirds will return to action on Thursday with a trip to Salina to take on Kansas Wesleyan JV at 4:00pm. Cloud will open Jayhawk Conference play this weekend on Saturday, March 4 as Dodge City comes to town for a four game set.