Baseball lost a pair of doubleheaders to Missouri NJCAA DI opponents on their spring break trip and will look to right the ship as they move into Region 16 play this coming weekend. Mineral Area College bested the Pirates 9-2 and 5-2 on March 14th while MSU-West Plains took down NCMC 7-4 and 5-0 on March 17th. With the losses, NCMC's record sits at 6-11 with a home series against East Central College set for Saturday and Sunday at Burleigh Grimes Field.
The Pirates hold a team batting average of .308 with returning All-American Javier Suarez leading the charge. He's hitting .475 with a team high 14 runs scored and 7 extra base hits. Eduardo Chourio is also off to a nice start with a .449 average and 17 RBIs. Leading NCMC in home runs is freshman Koby Wagers with 4.
On the mound, NCMC has a team ERA of 8.01. Jonah Sparks has been reliable out of the bullpen with a 2.70 ERA while Max Wagers, Koby Wagers and Luis Leon have been the team's most reliable starters. Perhaps the best pitcher to date has been freshman Jorge Jimenez who has seen work out of the bullpen and in the starting role. He has a 5.40 ERA over 18.1 innings. Defensively, the Pirates are fielding at a .943 clip.