SMCC Baseball Splits ACCAC Series with Gateway CC

MAR. 26 BOX SCORE

MAR. 27 BOX SCORE

PHOENIX --- 

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (19-18, 11-11 ACCAC) split a two-game ACCAC series with Gateway CC, winning 12-9 on Mar. 26 before falling 8-3 on Mar. 27. Sophomore Wylie Waters smashed a double and a triple and drove in a season-high four runs in the game one victory, while freshman Joe Terranova led SMCC with two hits, including a double, in the 8-3 defeat. 

Mar. 26 Recap

SMCC jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first and held on for the victory despite 20 hits from the Geckos. Gateway CC pulled to within 8-6 after the third inning, and the teams exchanged runs in the fifth. In the ninth, the Cougars plated three to add to their lead and held Gateway to two in their half of the frame to secure the victory. 

In the first, sophomore Dominic Chacon laced a one-out double that scored Terranova, Waters added an RBI double, and freshman Jaden Upper had a two-run single. Several defensive errors also helped SMCC post the eight-run frame. 

Another Gecko miscue helped push a Cougar run across in the fifth, and in the ninth, Waters cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run triple. He finished the game 2 for 4 with a run, four RBIs, and a walk. 

Upper was the second Cougar to post two hits and finished 2 for 5 with a run and two RBIs. Chacon scored three times, drove in a run, stole a base, and walked twice. Sophomore Karsen Waslefsky walked and scored twice, and freshman Brady Lord drove in two and scored once. Sophomore Jaden Miranda had the team's third double. 

Luis Martin Romero (2-5) earned the win on the mound with 1.2 innings of relief. He scattered three hits and one walk but did not allow a run. Sophomore Alex Urias-Calvillo recorded his fifth save of the season with 2.2 innings of relief. He allowed six hits and two earned runs with one strikeout. Sophomore Matthew Lighthall started the game for SMCC and went 4.2 innings with 10 hits, five earned runs, and seven strikeouts. 

Mar. 27 Recap

The Geckos broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth with three runs and added three in the ninth to post the 8-3 victory over SMCC. 

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, SMCC got a sacrifice fly from freshman Marcus Romero and tied the game on a Gateway error. In the fifth, Waters delivered a two-out RBI single that scored Terranova, but that would be the last run produced by the SMCC offense. 

Waters finished the contest 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI, and Terranova was 2 for 4 with a run, a double, and a walk. Sophomores Carlos Vega and Niko Rosell added base hits, as did freshmen Luke Jones and Raul Parada. 

Freshman Christopher Mata (1-1) took the loss with 1.2 innings of relief, allowing two hits, three earned runs, and two walks. Sophomore Fabian Ibarra started the game for SMCC and went 2.2 innings with four hits, two earned runs, and five strikeouts. Freshman Max Mazinter tossed 3.2 innings in relief, and sophomore Nikolas Miller appeared in the ninth and struck out three.