Cougar Baseball Rallies to Split Doubleheader at Arizona Western

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (6-7, 1-1 ACCAC) split its conference-opening doubleheader at Arizona Western on Tuesday, Feb. 13, falling in game one 7-3 before rallying for a 9-4, 12-inning victory in game two. Freshman Christopher Mata finished 3 for 6 in game two with two runs, two RBIs, and his first home run of the season in game two as Alex Urias-Calvillo recorded the win with two innings of relief work. 

Tied at 2-2 in the top of the 12th, SMCC saw the first three batters reach safely: freshman Joe Terranova singled, Mata walked, and sophomore Karsen Waslefsy dropped down a bunt single. Terranova scored on a wild pitch, and the Matadors intentionally walked Dominic Chacon to re-load the bases. 

Freshman Cameron Masters-Doble then delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single to bring home Mata and Waslefsky, and freshman Luke Jones added an RBI single to plate Chacon. With sophomore Wylie Waters running for Masters-Doble, freshman Marcus Romero slapped a single to score Waters, and Jones then scored on an error on the play. 

Another Matador error allowed Romero to score and give SMCC nine runs in the frame. AWC pushed two runs across in their half of the frame before Urias-Calvillo recorded the final out. 

Terranova and Waslefsky each posted two hits in the win, and sophomore Jaden Miranda and Waslefsky added a stolen base. 

Urias-Calvillo picked up his first win of the year and allowed two earned runs with one strikeout. Freshman David Galindo tossed 4.2 innings of relief work and fanned seven, and sophomore Nikolas Miller started the game for the Cougars and went 5.1 innings with two earned runs and six K's. 

In game one, the teams battled scorelessly into the fifth inning. AWC broke through in the bottom of the frame with five runs, three of which came on a home run off SMCC starter sophomore Stephen Hernandez. 

SMCC responded with two runs in the sixth. A pitch hit sophomore Niko Rosell with one out, and he moved to second on a single from freshman Landon Springmeyer. With two outs, Miranda singled to center to score Rosell and Springmeyer. 

Chacon blasted his second home run of the season in the seventh to end the game's scoring, and Chapman finished a perfect 3 for 3 in the contest. 

Aside from his troubles in the fifth, Hernandez pitched well for the Cougars. He fanned six and allowed three hits in 5.0 innings of work. Sophomore Stryder Salas tossed one inning of relief and had a K.