MCC baseball walks off over Wharton

The McLennan Highlanders extended their winning streak to five games with an 8-7 victory over the Wharton Pioneers this afternoon on the campus of Sam Houston State University. The Highlanders came from behind to get the victory with Payton Strambler picking up the win on the mound.
 
Wharton began the scoring with one run in the top of the first as Caleb Maly walked, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a double by Deryk Serbantez.
 
McLennan tied the game with a run in the bottom of the first as Jalen Battles was hit by the pitch, moved around to third on a single by Jordan Yeatts and scored on a single by Cole Moore.
 
The Pioneers took the lead with two runs in the second. Brock Brandl was safe on an error, and Travis Fai singled. Both runners advanced on a double steal. Brandl scored on a single by Grant Griffin, and Fai scored on a sacrifice fly by Maly.
 
Two more Wharton runs scored in the third. Josiah Ortiz singled and Serbantez drew a walk. Both runners advanced on an overthrow, and Ortiz scored on a wild pitch. Serbantez then scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandl.
 
The Highlanders added a run in the third as Battles doubled and scored on a ground out by Moore.
 
McLennan scored another run in the fourth. Garrett Martin reached first safely on an error, Brett Squires singled and Brooks Embry walked to load the bases. Martin then scored on a sacrifice by Vince Ippoliti.
 
The Highlanders tied the game with two runs in the fifth. Yeatts doubled and scored on a single by Moore. Ryan Neitsch walked, and Squires singled to score Moore.
 
Wharton took the lead again with two runs in the top of the eighth inning. Brandl tripled and scored on a single by Brandon Broughton. Shane Podsednik then tripled to score Broughton.
 
McLennan sealed the win with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Yeatts led off with a single and Martin walked. Neitsch followed with a double to score both runners. Squires followed with the walk-off single to score Neitsch.
 
McLennan will host Howard for a three-game series beginning at 2 p.m. Friday at Bosque River Ballpark.