Sports roundup – Blue Dragon baseball team struggles on Oklahoma trip

By Sam Ojeda / Sports Editor

The Hutchinson Community College baseball team headed down to Oklahoma for a three-game set against Rose State College. The Blue Dragons struggled in a series they normally have success in. They finished 1-2 on the weekend.

The freshman-heavy team split with the Raiders on Thursday. In game one they lost 13-7. Although the offense scored in every inning, the pitching and defense could not hold up.

Game two was a different story as Texas freshman Gus McKay had an electric outing. McKay took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished with seven shutout innings of one-hit ball.

Game three was delayed from Friday to Saturday, which slated Texas sophomore Justin Smith as the starter. The Blue Dragons outhit the Raiders but ended up on the losing end 9-6. After a three-run eighth inning to tie the game, the pitching and defense struggled in the ninth to finalize the loss and a disappointing weekend.

HutchCC is now 7-5 as the Blue Dragons head to Enid, Okla. for a midweek game before taking on Jayhawk East opponent Coffeyville CC in a four-game set this weekend.

Men’s Basketball – The Blue Dragons clinched a home game in the first round of the Region 6 tournament after a win over Seward County.

They won 76-71 behind a double-double performance by Aaron Franklin. HutchCC has now won three in a row and are 18-11 overall.

Franklin had 21 points and 10 rebounds and is now fourth all time in single-season 3-pointers. Ra’sean Frederick put numbers up all across the board with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

After an off weekend, the Blue Dragons will host Garden City to close out the regular season on Wednesday night.

Women’s basketball – The women’s basketball team had a similar result to the men. They beat Seward 69-54 behind another Monae Duffy double-double.

After being down at the end of quarter one, they did not look back. They led 50-30 after three quarters and out rebounded the Saints 48-27.

Duffy finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. While Mya Willams and Kali Howard both finished in double figures in the scoring department.

They are now 22-7 this season and 16-7 in conference play. They finish out the regular season in a home game against Garden City on Wednesday.

Softball – The softball team went 2-0 in their most recent action with 7-0 and 9-0 wins of Labette CC.

Emily Munson, Morgan Pennycuff, and Riley Wertz came together to throw back-to-back shutouts. The pitching efforts helped lead the Blue Dragons to a 10-3 overall record and a 20th spot ranking in this week’s NJCAA rankings.

The last four games have been canceled due to weather which is why they play six games this week. All six games are at home against Sterling College JV, Colby CC, and Butler CC.

Men’s and Women’s indoor track – Although neither team had action this week, they do head to Topeka this weekend for NJCAA Nationals.

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