by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Kansas City Kansas Community College played spoiler at Baker University’s “Senior Day” Tuesday. Tied 2-2 through six innings, the Blue Devils took the lead in the seventh on the way to a 12-2 win.
The win improved KCKCC’s record to 27-15 heading into the final four Jayhawk Conference regular season games.
At Coffeyville Thursday, the Blue Devils will entertain the Red Ravens starting at 1 p.m. Originally scheduled for Saturday, the games were moved up to avoid threatening weather.
The Blue Devils took a 2-0 lead in the first on a leadoff double by Cole Slibowski and Palmer Hutchison’s 2-run home run to centerfield.
It was the 16th homer of the season for Hutchison, who had four hits and drove in three runs, bringing his total for the season to 50.
Baker rebounded in the second, tying the game 2-2 on a 2-out single and it stayed that way until the seventh.
The first of two triples by Ray Paniagua and a double by Cole Dawson gave the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead and they added two more in the eighth on Paniagua’s second triple following singles by Slibowski and Hutchison.
Eight Blue Devils had hits in a 7-run ninth. Caleb Adams belted his fifth home run of the season and Dawson doubled and singled. Camden Karlin also doubled and Beau Grable, Brock Stewart, Brendyn Bard and Slilbowski singled.
The Blue Devils finished with 19 hits. In addition to Hutchison’s four hits, Dawson had two doubles and a single and Slibowski doubled and singled twice while Paniagua had two triples and Karlin a double and single.
Joseph Reyes got the pitching win, allowing just four hits and two runs in six innings. He struck out five and walked two. Ivan Ortiz finished up with three innings of one-hit relief.