News Photo by Owen Kinzey Kaleb Blaskowski stands ready to bat during Alpena Community College’s baseball game against Muskegon Community College in Alpena on Saturday.

ALPENA — Wrapping up the second season of its existence, the Alpena Community College baseball team (11-27-1, 5-15 MCCAA) finished its season with a four-game series against Muskegon Community College.

Saturday’s doubleheader completed the series as ACC split 1-1 but the Lumberjacks ultimately still lost 1-3 over the course of the weekend.

Game one finished as the Lumberjack’s last win of the year by a final of 6-4, while game two ended in a 6-0 loss that collapsed out of control late in the game.

“I thought we played some pretty good baseball all weekend,” ACC coach Rob Enslen said. “Our pitchers attacked the zone, we played some solid defense, and we forced some timely hitting today, which is always a positive. Unfortunately, we only won one game, but I was pleased with our performance.”

Even though the Lumberjacks would come back and answer in a big way, the top of the first started off rocky for ACC.

An early walk and back-to-back singles caused Alpena to fall down 1-0, a common occurrence all weekend.

While losing the lead early proved devastating in most matchups, ACC found a way to respond in the next frame.

Evan Fairbanks kicked things off with a single into right field, and then Brett Moroschan barrelled a home run as the following batter.

This two-run shot propelled ACC into a 2-1 lead.

At the top of the second, the Jayhawks regained momentum on a catastrophic error, costing Lumberjack two hard-earned runs.

Down 3-2, the Lumberjacks fought back again in the bottom half of the inning.

Three straight singles to lead off the inning eventually led to an RBI, where ACC still had nobody out.

Later in the same inning, two more singles from Matthew Thompson and Fairbanks scored two more runners as Alpena held a 5-3 lead after two innings.

Both sides settled down until the fifth, where Muskegon attacked for another run.

And just like before, in the same inning, ACC answered to get a run back of its own.

Two more scoreless innings secured Grant Slater’s win on the mound and the Lumberjacks’ 6-4 victory.

Game two was not nearly as offensive, starting as a complete pitcher’s duel on both sides.

ACC gave up one run in the top of the first due to an RBI off of a fielder’s choice, but after that, neither team scored until the seventh.

In the very last inning, the Jayhawks discovered a plethora of insurance runs before walking away with the massive win.

Five runs were scored on five hits, where most runs were produced beyond the outfield fence.

Carter Hughes and Tanner Tresemer both crushed home runs to deep left field. Hughes’ homer was a solo shot, while Tresemer’s counted as a three-run home run.

Ultimately, the late runs ended in a 6-0 final, as Luke Gifford received the loss for ACC.

“Just in comparison to last year, we took a massive step as a team and as a program,” Enslen said. “All the credit in the world goes to these sophomores who laid the foundation and allowed us to grow as a team. We’ve got some big recruits next year, and I’m super excited for the future of ACC baseball.”