ESCANABA, MI – Lorenzo Feliciano was named the MCCAA Northern Conference Pitcher of the Week as he shutout the Mid Michigan Lakers in Ohio this past weekend.
The Norse (5-8, 1-4 MCCAA) had a tough go of it as they won just one game this past weekend. For the first time the MCCAA Northern Conference met at a neutral site for a round robin style weekend, with every team facing off just once. Bay College picked up just one win, an 8-0 shutout over Mid Michigan (12-6, 4-1 MCCAA).
Feliciano (SO, Deerfield Beach, FL) willed the Norse to victory in that game. He threw all seven innings and gave up just two hits and no walks. He struck out seven in a complete game, shutout effort.
The Norse gave him all the run support he needed in that affair. Michael Rey (SO, Dunnellon, FL) was two for four with a triple and an RBI while George Cooper (SO, Skenners Head, Australia) also picked up a pair of hits and had two RBI.
Earlier in the week the Norse lost the conference opener by a final score of 5-4. Bay struggled to hit in the clutch as they loaded the bases with no one out in the second and failed to score. They would leave ten runners on base but managed to tie the game in the seventh with an RBI single from Zach Gibson (SO, Nassau, Bahamas). Muskegon (6-15, 4-3 MCCAA) got a walk off homerun to lead off the bottom half, handing a tough-luck loss to Bay pitcher Cohen Thompson (SO, Chapin, SC).
The Norse then faced the two-time defending Northern Conference Champions from Grand Rapids Community College (11-13, 6-1 MCCAA). Bay led early, picking up RBI singles from Gibson and Bon LaChance (FR, Escanaba, MI), but a nightmare bottom of the third plated six runs for the Raiders. They would carry that momentum to an 11-2 victory.
The Delta College Pioneers (6-12, 1-6 MCCAA) got off to a fast start in the early game on Saturday. They scored three in the first, third, and fourth innings, jumping out to a big lead. Bay rallied in the fifth, picking up RBI's from Feliciano, Cooper, and LaChance in a five-run outburst, but it was not enough as the Pioneers took the matchup by a final of 10-5.
The Norse handed Mid Michigan their first and only loss of the young conference season in the nightcap of Saturday's games.
It looked as though Bay was going to use that momentum to take another game on Sunday as they scored seven runs in the third to take an 8-1 lead against the Alpena Lumberjacks (7-18, 3-4 MCCAA). Alpena was able to bounce back in the bottom half of the third with five runs and tied in the fourth. A controversial call in the fifth helped lead the Lumberjacks to a pair of homeruns to take the lead. Bay's three in the sixth were not enough to close the gap, as Alpena took a 15-11 victory in the finale. Cooper was five for five with a pair of doubles and two RBI in the matchup.
Bay will get back into conference play with a four-game series at Delta College. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm on Friday, April 4. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 pm.