Baseball | 4/3/2025 8:23:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Cloud County Community College baseball team split its doubleheader at Hutchinson Community College on Thursday, April 3. After dropping the first game of the twin bill 2-1 in seven innings, the T-Birds bounced back for a 13-4 victory in nine innings in the second game.

The T-Birds tallied 10 hits and outscored the Blue Dragons 10-1 over the final six innings in game two. Three T-Birds collected multiple hits in the nightcap, with sophomore Easton Mould leading the offensive surge by going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI. Sophomore Noah Konings went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI and one run scored, while redshirt freshman Matthew Evans finished 2-for-3 with one run scored.

Sophomore Nolan Freund, the reigning Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference West Division Player of the Week, opened the scoring with a double in the top of the first inning that scored sophomore Austin Coyle. Hutchinson responded in the bottom half of the first and grabbed a 2-1 advantage following a two-run home run by freshman Anthony Mazza.

Cloud County quickly retook the lead in the top half of the second. After sophomore Eric Bradicich drew a one-out walk, Mould followed with a double to put two in scoring position. Bradicich scored after a balk by freshman Noah McCombs. Freshman catcher Vasya Seymour added an RBI ground out to score Mould, giving the T-Birds a 3-2 lead.

The Blue Dragons climbed back in front at 4-3 in the bottom of the third on a triple to right by sophomore C.J. Reid that scored Mazza and redshirt sophomore Quinn Maher.

Following a scoreless fourth inning, Cloud County broke things open in the fifth when Konings drove in two runs on a double to center field. Freshman Joey Marino scored two runs on a single to right, and Bradicich scored Marino on a single of his own to make it 8-4. Freshman Lucas Laukkanen also scored on a defensive error on a sacrifice bunt by Mould to push the lead to 9-4.

The T-Birds pulled away for good in the top of the sixth when Mould scored Marino and Laukkanen on a single to right field. Bradicich was hit by a pitch and later scored on a balk by freshman Brooks Jones, while Mould was brought home on an RBI single by Coyle to grab a 13-4 advantage.

Hutchinson scored its final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth when AJ Mustow scored on a balk by T-Bird sophomore Noah Bourgeois.

Bourgeois improved to 4-1 on the season. Bourgeois threw the final five innings, limiting the Blue Dragons to one run on three hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. Freshman Cole Linton started the game, pitching the first four innings where he allowed four runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Runs were at a premium in game one, with the T-Birds losing a tight 2-1 battle. Cloud County was held to three hits in the contest. The T-Birds' only run came in the top of the third inning when Mould reached on a one-out walk before being driven in on a two-out triple to right-center by Coyle.

Freshman Stocton Timbrook started for Cloud County and suffered the tough-luck loss. Timbrook hurled 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Hayden Malaise faced one batter and recorded the final out in the bottom of the sixth.

Cloud County will go for its fourth Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference series win of the season when it hosts Hutchinson for a doubleheader on Sunday, April 6. First pitch is set for 1 pm from Lee Doyen Field.