SMCC Baseball Sweeps ACCAC Series from Glendale CC

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (18-17, 10-10 ACCAC) defeated Glendale CC 2-1 in 12 innings on Friday, Mar. 22 and 6-2 on Saturday, Mar. 23, in a pair of ACCAC contests. Freshman David Galindo tossed eight innings of scoreless relief, and the Cougars pushed across the winning run on a passed ball in the 12th inning on Mar. 23. The next day, sophomore Dominic Chacon hit a solo home run and walked three times, and freshman Jaden Upper posted a double and a triple as SMCC won 6-2. 

Mar. 22 Recap

The Cougars and Gauchos engaged in a pitcher's duel and played into extra innings before a winner could be decided.

SMCC scored a run in the first. Freshman Christopher Mata singled to start the game and moved to second on a balk. With two outs, he scored on an RBI single from sophomore Karsen Waslefsky. 

GCC tied the game with a run in the fifth inning. The teams exchanged scoreless frames until the bottom of the 12th. With one out, freshman Joe Terranova doubled, and Chacon was intentionally walked. An infield error loaded the bases, and a passed ball allowed Terranova to sneak across home plate to end the game. 

Galindo (3-3) was stellar in relief with eight innings of scoreless baseball. He struck out six and worked around three hits to stymie the Gauchos. Freshman Stephen Hernandez started the game and went 4.0 innings with four hits, one earned run, three walks, and two strikeouts.  

Mar. 23 Recap

The Cougars got a strong pitching performance from sophomore Nikolas Miller to go with the power provided by Chacon and Upper. 

Miller (5-1) tossed 8.2 innings with six hits, two earned runs, and six strikeouts to record his fifth win. Sophomore Alex Urias-Calvillo earned his fourth save of the season by striking out the final out of the game. 

Chacon blasted a solo home run, his fifth of the year, in the top of the first to give SMCC an early advantage. He finished 1 for 2 with two runs, three walks, a stolen base, and an RBI. 

The score remained 1-0 until the sixth when sophomore Jaden Miranda drew a two-out walk, moved to third on an error, and scored on a wild pitch. 

In the seventh, Upper tripled, and Chacon walked with two outs. A balk brought Upper home, and a GCC error allowed Chacon to score later in the frame. 

After GCC cut the lead to 4-2 in the eighth, SMCC plated a pair of insurance runs in the ninth. Upper led off the inning with a double and scored on a pinch-hit double from Carlos Vega. Sophomore Wylie Waters then brought Vega home with a two-out RBI single. 

Upper was 2 for 3 with two runs, his third double, and his first triple, and Waters also had two hits and walked twice.