Delta Splits in Battle of Top Ten Teams

Auburndale, FL – The ninth-ranked Delta College baseball team played the seventh-ranked St. Cloud Tech in a double-header, dropping game one 7-5 before winning game two, 10-6.  The split brings the Pioneers record on the early season to 4-2.

St. Cloud jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings in the first game and added one in the sixth to go up 7-0.  Delta made a strong comeback effort, however, as they plated five runs in the top of the seventh and had the winning run at the plate before ending the game on a ground-out to second. 

Guy Henika (0-1) took the loss on the hill for the Pioneers, throwing five innings and giving up six earned runs on eight hits while striking out three.  Offensively, DC was led by Mitch Morley with a double, a walk and three RBI.

St. Cloud jumped out a 5-0 in the nightcap after two innings before Delta was able to put anything on the board.  In the bottom of the second, Mitch Morley singled and scored on a Devin Sempert double to make it 5-1.  A Cam Fowler single to left scored Sempert and when Fowler came around to score later in the inning on an error it was 5-3. 

In the bottom of the fourth, the Pioneers took the lead for good as Sempert led off with a walk and scored courtesy of two passed balls and a Danny Diaz single.  Fowler moved Diaz to third and after a failed suicide squeeze attempt, Aaron Esparza launched a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence to give Delta a 6-5 lead.  Kane Bourbina followed Esparza with a double and came around to score on an error to make it 7-5 by the end of the inning.

St. Cloud scored on in the top of the fifth to cut in to the lead but Delta put the game out of reach in the bottom of the frame with three runs of their own.  Diaz, Fowler, Esparza and Zach Schirmer all singled in the inning while Bourbina had a sacrifice fly to make it 10-6 for the final.

Robin VanOrden (1-0) threw all seven innings for DC, giving up two earned runs while striking out six and giving up nine hits.  Cam Fowler had three hits and three runs to lead the Delta offense while Esparza added two hits, two runs and two RBI.  Mitch Morley, Danny Diaz and Devin Sempert all had multi-hit games as well.

The Pioneers are in action tomorrow as they play Division II Lake County, Illinois in a 2:30pm double-header.