Cougar Baseball Splits Doubleheader with No. 3 Central Arizona

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (27-12, 20-10 ACCAC) split an Arizona Community College Athletic Conference doubleheader with No. 3 Central Arizona on Tuesday, April 20, falling 8-2 (7) in game one before winning 18-11 in the second game. Four Cougars had multiple hits, and four had multiple RBIs as the Cougars snapped a three-game losing streak overall and a three-game skid against the Vaqueros.

Game One

Central Arizona took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, and a five-run sixth lifted it to the seven-inning victory.

After the Vaqueros scored twice in the first, the Cougars responded quickly with two runs of their own. 

Justin Quinn reached on a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on an errant throw by the catcher. McKay Barney then delivered a two-out RBI single to bring home Quinn, and he promptly scored as well on an RBI double from Andrew Lucas. Barney finished the game 2-for-3 with a run, an RBI and a stolen base.

Carter Krosky (5-3) started for the Cougars and surrendered seven hits and two earned runs in 5.2 innings of work. He had two strikeouts and two walks. Ben Meyerson threw the final 1.1 innings and had a walk and a strikeout.

Game Two

The SMCC offense produced 16 hits, including five for extra bases, to hand Central Arizona its fourth loss of the season.

Holden Breeze had a team-high four hits, tied a season-high with four RBIs and finished 4-for-5 with a run and a double.  Brice Martinez and Paul Sachen each had three hits; Martinez added two runs, two RBIs and a walk, while Sachen scored a season-high four runs and added an RBI.

Quinn went 1-for-2 with three runs, two walks, a triple and a season-high four RBIs. Lucas had a two-run triple and a sacrifice fly, while Esteban Hernandez finished 2-for-5 with three runs scored and a triple.

Barney scored a pair of runs and added an RBI, and Clayton Kempski picked up his first double of the season.

The Cougars jumped out to an early 6-0 lead through two innings. Lucas hit a two-out, two-run triple that scored Barney and Quinn in the first. In the second, Quinn drew a bases-loaded walk, Breeze delivered a two-run single and Lucas lifted a sac fly to center as Hernandez, Sachen, Gillis Champagne and Quinn scored.

Central Arizona struck for two runs in the top of the fifth off SMCC starter Matt Bohnert, but he escaped the jam. The southpaw fanned a dozen Vaqueros and scattered four hits and a walk in 5.0 innings. 

SMCC responded with a pair of runs in its half of the fifth. Michael Quinones scored on a wild pitch, and Sachen came home on an RBI single from Martinez.

Despite the Vaqueros using a six-run seventh to tie the game at 8-8, the Cougars answered immediately with four runs of their own. Hernandez started the rally by reaching on an error, and Sachen followed that up with a bunt single. Martinez then singled to score Hernandez, and Quinn cleared the bases with a triple. Breeze then brought Quinn home with an RBI double, and SMCC led 12-8.

Central Arizona answered with three runs in three runs in the eighth, but Trent Adams worked his way out of a jam to preserve the Cougar led.

SMCC put the game out of reach in the eighth with six runs. Hernandez tripled and scored on a single from Sachen, and a pitch hit Quinn with the bases loaded to bring in Sachen. Breeze then squibbed a single to the catcher to score Champagne, Barney had an RBI single to score Martinez, and the final two runs scored on an error by the catcher.

Alec Stanfield (2-1) picked up the win by getting the final two outs in the seventh, including a strikeout to end the frame. Ryan Figueroa tossed the ninth and had two K's, and Drew Woody added 1.1 innings of relief work.

 SMCC remains at home for its next four games, beginning with a doubleheader against Mesa CC on Saturday, April 24. The first game starts at noon.