JACKSON, Mich. – With the conference title clinched, Macomb Baseball traveled to Jackson College on Saturday (May 2) to play two against the Jets in the regular season finale. The Monarchs won both games by one run, taking game one by an 8-7 final before emerging victorious in the nightcap, 7-6.
The pair of victories lifted the Monarchs to their 13
th straight win and eighth straight over the Jets dating back to last season.
With the pair of victories and season sweep over the Jets, the Monarchs finished the regular season 34-15 overall and 20-5 in the MCCAA Eastern Conference.
The Monarchs will await the official announcement of their first round Region 12 Tournament opponent either Sunday or Monday. The first round of the Region 12 Tournament, a best-of-three series, will be played at home beginning Thursday (May 7). First pitch for game one will be announced Monday.
GAME ONE: Macomb 8, Jackson 7
Zackary Grinde made the most of his return trip to Jackson with a two-run fifth inning home run to help the Monarchs earn an 8-7 victory. The home run—Grinde's seventh of the campaign—would stand as the game-winning blast in the one run affair.
Before Grinde left the yard, reigning NJCAA Division II Player of the Week,
Brett Leonard, connected on a three-run home run in the fourth. The home run was Leonard's sixth of the season.
A back-and-forth contest, the Monarchs and Jets exchanged runs early before Leonard's three-run shot turned a 3-3 game into a 6-3 Macomb lead. The Jets would get within one, 6-5, in the home half of the fourth before Grinde provided all the run support Monarch pitching would need down the stretch with his two-run homer.
Vito Zito recorded an RBI double while
Buster Debol and
Peyton Rich had two hits each to join Grinde and Leonard as offensive leaders.
On the mound,
Kaiden Pollock would earn his fifth win of the season after tossing three solid innings and
Connor O'Neil secured his second save with two brilliant innings to close it out.
GAME TWO: Macomb 7, Jackson 6
Another seesaw battle, the Monarchs plated two runs in each of the second, third and fourth innings and brought the game-winning run across in the fifth in the 7-6 decision.
Buster Debol hit his fourth home run of the season as part of his second two-hit game of the afternoon, while
Marwynn Matthews Jr had an RBI triple to finish 2-for-4 in the series finale.
Ryan Sieler, the team's ace in 2024 before unfortunately suffering a lengthy injury, got the start as designated hitter and came through in his first collegiate at-bat with an RBI single to get the scoring started in game two.
Nick Riebschleger came on in relief and worked his way to a 4-0 record on the season after tossing 2.2 innings of one-hit, two-strikeout ball.
Connor Hayden appeared for the second time in the series and picked up where he left off, this time earning his second save of the campaign with a flawless seventh inning that featured two strikeouts.
