SMCC Baseball Powers Past Glendale CC

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (36-14, 28-6 ACCAC) defeated Glendale CC 12-11 in an ACCAC Division II contest at the SMCC Baseball Field on Wednesday, April 16. Sophomore Marcus Romero blasted a pair of two-run home runs and finished 3 for 5 with four RBIs. Other standouts included sophomore Raul Parada, who added a two-run home run and three RBIs, and sophomore Matt Elliot, who earned his sixth save of the season by recording the final four outs. 

The Cougars and Gauchos engaged in a wild affair that saw SMCC pull ahead 7-2 after four innings. However, GCC fourth back with four runs over the fifth and sixth to cut its deficit to 7-6. SMCC responded with four runs in its half of the sixth, but GCC scored five runs across the seventh and eighth to draw within 12-11. 

The Gauchos put the tying run aboard in the ninth with a lead-off infield single. Elliot induced a pair of flyouts before a two-out walk moved the potential tying run into scoring position. However, he got the final out on a flyout to right to end the game. He had one strikeout in 1.1 innings of work to pick up the save. 

Romero hit two-run homers in the third and sixth, tying him for the team lead with six. He added a single, scored two runs, and is batting .295 with 22 RBIs, 26 runs, and eight stolen bases in 36 games. 

Parada hit a two-run home run in the fourth, bringing in sophomore Bryan Lorenz. He finished 3 for 5 with two runs and three RBIs and is batting .402 with four home runs, 20 doubles, 57 RBIs, 48 runs, and five stolen bases in 50 games. 

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the third, sophomore Luke Jones tied the game with an RBI single to score sophomore Joe Terranova. Sophomore Landon Springmeyer then put SMCC ahead 3-2 with an RBI single to score Jones before Romero cleared the bases for the first time. 

When GCC fought back to within 7-6 in the sixth, Springmeyer hit a two-run triple that scored Parada and freshman Drew Johnson before he came home on Romero's second deep fly. The Cougars' 12th run scored on an RBI single from Parada that scored Lorenz, who had tripled, in the seventh. 

Lorenz finished 2 for 5 with two runs and that triple, while freshman Bobby Pierce Jr. was 2 for 6 with an RBI. Terranova was 2 for 4 with a walk, a run, and a double, and Jones was 2 for 5 with a run and an RBI. Johnson drew three walks and scored once, and freshman Nuri Todd added two hits. 

Todd also had a big play defensively for the Cougars. With one out in the eighth and the tying run on second, Todd collected a single to the outfield and cut the runner down at the plate on a stellar throw to Springmeyer. 

Freshman Braeden McCarroll earned the win with 1.2 innings of relief work with two hits, two earned runs, and a strikeout. Freshman Lukas Geisler started the game for SMCC and went four innings with five hits, four earned runs, one walk, and six strikeouts. 

Sophomore Christopher Mata and freshman Thomas Peck also saw time in relief before Elliott slammed the door on a potential Gaucho comeback.