SMCC Baseball Splits ACCAC Series with Chandler-Gilbert CC

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (21-18, 13-11 ACCAC) split an ACCAC series with Chandler-Gilbert CC, falling 7-6 at home on Mar. 29 before posting a 14-7 road win on Mar. 30. Sophomore Karsen Waslefsky hit a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to tie the first game, only to see the Coyotes push a run across in the ninth to steal the victory. The next day, freshman Joe Terranova smashed a pair of home runs, and sophomore Wylie Waters blasted two triples and a double as the Cougars blew open a 3-2 game with an eight-run eighth inning en route to the win. 

Mar. 29 Recap

The Cougars clawed back from a 6-3 deficit late in the game, but a final CGCC rally in the ninth proved the difference. 

SMCC led 3-0 through two innings. In the first, Waslefsky hit a two-out RBI double to score Terranova, and Waters brought him home with an RBI single. Terranova then picked up an RBI in the second when a pitch hit him with the bases loaded. 

CGCC scratched one back in the fourth and scored four times in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead. The Coyotes added another run in the seventh before the late-game dramatics. 

Waslefsky finished 2 for 5 with a run and three RBIs, while Waters was 3 for 5 with a double and the RBI. Freshman Christopher Mata also posted three hits and scored a run, and Terranova was 1 for 3 with one run, one RBI, and one walk. 

Kaden Gray (1-2) took the loss with 2.1 innings of relief on the mound, allowing one unearned run and fanning two. Freshman Stephen Hernandez started the game for SMCC and went 5.0 innings. He scattered four hits, four runs (three earned), and two walks with six strikeouts. Freshman David Galindo and sophomore Alex Urias-Calvillo also saw time in relief. 

Mar. 30 Recap

Leading 3-2 in the top of the eighth, the Cougars scored eight runs in the frame and added three insurance runs in the ninth to post a 14-7 win. Terranova led SMCC with a pair of solo home runs and finished 3 for 5 with four runs, three RBIs, and a walk. 

Waters started the scoring with an RBI triple in the first to score Terranova, and SMCC doubled its lead in the fourth on a solo home run from freshman Landon Springmeyer. Terranova later it 3-1 in the fifth with a solo home run. 

In the eighth, sophomore Niko Rosell had a two-run single, Waters had a two-run double, and Terranova, sophomore Dominic Chacon, and freshman Zac Chapman added RBI singles. Springmeyer also posted a sacrifice fly in the frame. 

The ninth saw Terranova crank his second solo home run of the game, Waters scored on a wild pitch after hitting his second triple, and Chacon scored on another RBI single from Chapman. 

Waters went 3 for 5 with two runs, three RBIs, two triples, a double, and one walk. Chacon was 2 for 4 with two runs, a double, two stolen bases, an RBi, and a walk, and Springmeyer finished 2 for 2 with two runs, two RBIs, a solo home run, and a walk. 

Sophomore Nikolas Miller (6-1) earned the win with six strong innings. He fanned nine and worked around eight hits, two earned runs, and two walks. Galindo tossed two frames and struck out three, and freshman Max Mazinter and sophomore Stryder Salas also saw time in relief.