SMCC Baseball Rallies to Beat Glendale CC Twice

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (7-7, 4-0 ACCAC) defeated Glendale CC 9-5 in a home game on Feb. 14 and 5-4 in a road game on Feb. 15 in a pair of ACCAC contests. Sophomore Luke Jones had the game-winning RBI in both contests, twice driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Freshmen Grant Young and Braeden McCarroll earned wins on the mound, and sophomore Matt Elliot picked up the save in the game-two victory. 

Feb. 14 Recap

The Cougars and Gauchos engaged in a back-and-forth affair late in the game after combining for one run through 6 innings. SMCC won the wild ride 9-5, scoring eight runs over the seventh and eighth innings. 

Sophomore David Galindo and GCC's Jackson Kirby battled in a pitchers' duel early in the game. Freshman Bryan Lorenz hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to give SMCC a slim 1-0 lead. 

That held up until the top of the seventh when GCC led off the inning with a solo home run on the first pitch of the frame. The Gauchos scored four more runs in the frame and took a 5-1 lead into the seventh-inning stretch. 

SMCC answered with three runs in their half of the inning. Lorenz doubled to start the frame, and freshman Gavin Short drew a one-out walk as a pinch hitter. Jones plated Lorenz with an RBI single, and Christopher Mata, running for Short, and Jones scored on wild pitches. 

The Cougars exploded for five runs in the eighth to reclaim the lead. Terranova singled with one out, and with two down, Lorenz singled, and Drew Johnson drew an intentional walk to load the bases.

Mata drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, and Jones hit a 65-foot dribbler up the first-base line in which he beat the defender to the bag, allowing Lorenz and Johnson to score. Mata scored on a wild pitch, and Jones came in on a passed ball to make it 9-5. 

Young (1-0) earned the win with 2.2 innings of relief in which he fanned four and allowed one hit. Galindo went 6.1 innings with five hits, three earned runs, and four strikeouts. Lukas Geisler also saw time on the hill for SMCC. 

Feb. 15 Recap

The Cougars scored a run in the eighth on an RBI single from Jones to claim a 5-4 victory. SMCC led 4-2 through six innings, but the Gauchos tied the game in the seventh. 

SMCC loaded the bases in the second with one out on a pair of walks and a hit batter. Nuri Todd brought home Johnson with a sacrifice fly, and Brady Lord hit a two-out RBI single to score Jones. 

The Cougars took a 3-1 lead in the sixth on a Lorenz sacrifice fly that scored Raul Parada. Jones then made it 4-1 with an RBI double to left that scored Johnson. 

After GCC tied the game in the seventh, the Cougars scored the winning run in the eighth. Parada singled to start the inning, and Johnson drew a one-out walk. That brought up Jones, who singled into right field to score Parada, although Johnson was thrown out at third on the play. 

Elliot earned the save with two innings of work, scattering a pair of hits. McCarroll (1-0) picked up his first win of the year with an inning of relief.

Sophomore Fabian Ibarra started the game for the Cougars and went four innings with five hits, one earned run, and four strikeouts. Luis Martin Romero tossed two innings of relief and allowed three hits, one walk, and one unearned run with a strikeout. 

Jones was 2 for 3 with the double, a run, and the game-winning RBI. Parada was 3 for 4 with his team-leading ninth double of the season and two runs, and Johnson scored twice. 

SMCC's defense turned five double plays in the field to help thwart the GCC attack.