MONROEVILLE, Pa. – The Anne Arundel Community College baseball team swept host Community College of Allegheny County Friday afternoon, winning the opener, 5-2, and the nightcap, 3-2.
The Riverhawks (8-4) held on to an early lead in the first game, adding insurance runs in the sixth and seventh. In the nightcap, AACC got out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth to fend off a Wildcats comeback attempt.
Sam Ross went 4-for-7 on the day with three runs scored and three stolen bases, and also picked up the save in both games. Travis Fleshman was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a pair of stolen bases. Nicco Holland went 2-for-5 with a double and a pair of runs scored; he also earned the game one win.
Game One
Nicco Holland struck out four while allowing two runs on two hits in his first win. Ross earned the save allowing one hit and striking out three in the final two innings. Kyle Smoak struck out two and walked one in a hitless relief inning.
AACC scored three runs right off the bat. Ross led off the game with an infield single and came around to score when Holland hit a double line drive to left. After a ground out, a fielding error during Russell Turner's at bat put runners on the corners, setting up JC Wilson for a two-run single to center.
CCAC got its two runs on a home run in the fourth inning.
The Riverhawks' single runs in the sixth and seventh came on infield errors, seeing Ross cross the plate on a fantastic squeeze play in the seventh.
Game Two
The Wildcats led off with a walk, and turned it into a run when the next batter hit a line drive to right.
AACC tied it up when Fleshman scored on a wild pitch in the second, and took the lead for good in the third. With one out, Ross and Holland drew walks before scoring one run on a Turner ground out. Holland went to third on a wild pitch and Wilson walked to put runners on the corners. Fleshman drove in Holland on a grounder up the middle.
The Riverhawks retired the Wildcats in order in the third, fourth, and fifth before allowing CCAC to score in a two-out rally in the sixth. With two runners on, CCAC got a run in on a line drive to left. AACC starter Evan Pohlman fanned the final batter stranding two runners on.
Pohlman earned the win, striking out six and walking five while allowing two runs on three hits through six innings. Ross closed out the game with a strikeout in the final inning to earn his third save of the season.
Next up for AACC is an 11 a.m. Region 20 divisional doubleheader against Cecil Sunday, March 2, at Skip Brown Field.