MCC baseball team's playoff dates are all set

Pairings and game times have been announced for the Region IX tournament starting Thursday in Colorado Springs.

MCC will take on Northeastern Junior College Thursday in the opening game starting at 10 a.m. (CT) at UCHealth Park in Colorado Springs.

The Indians tied for third place in the Region IX (Empire League) standings with an 18-10 record. They take on sixth-seeded Northeastern Junior College (10-18). In the other opening round game, No. 4 Western Nebraska (18-10) will play No. 5 Lamar (10-18) at 1 p.m.

The losers of Thursday’s first-round games will play an elimination game at 4 p.m.

MCC and NJC split their four games this season. In McCook on April 5, MCC won the first game 11-4 and lost the second game 25-3.

In the 11-4 win, sophomore Aiden Johnson (Westminster, Colo.) pitched six innings with three walks and seven strikeouts. The MCC offense pounded out 19 hits including four each by sophomore Michael Quick (Oshawa, Ontario) and freshman Maddox Shaver (Belleville Ontario). The Plainsmen walloped five home runs in Game 2 and outhit MCC 19-3.

Three days later in Sterling, Colo. the Plainsmen won the first game 8-7 and MCC won the second game 18-12.

In the opening game, MCC came back from a 6-1 deficit in the fifth inning to tie the game 6-6 and in the sixth tied the game at 7-7 but NJC scored the game winner on a sixth inning home run. The Indians trailed 6-0 after one inning of Game 2 but came back with a nine-run fourth.