SMCC Baseball Takes Two from GateWay CC

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (9-7, 6-0 ACCAC) defeated GateWay CC 9-3 on Feb. 18 and 14-6 (8 innings) on Feb. 19 in a pair of ACCAC contests. Sophomore Joe Terranova finished a perfect 5 for 5 with three doubles, two runs, and two RBIs, and freshman Lukas Geisler tossed seven innings of one-hit baseball in the 9-3 victory at Gene Autry Park. The next day, four Cougars posted multiple hits, SMCC recorded five stolen bases, and sophomore Luis Martin Romero picked up his first win.  

Feb. 18 Recap

The Cougars got stellar performances from Terranova at the plate and from Geisler on the mound to post the road win over the Geckos. 

Geisler (1-0) allowed one hit, a one-out single in the second inning, over his seven frames, fanning six and walking two to earn his first win of the year. Freshman Quinn Robertson threw two innings of relief with four hits, three earned runs, and one strikeout. 

Terranova doubled in the first, third, and eighth and also drew a walk to reach base safely in his six plate appearances. 

SMCC scored a pair of runs in the first, getting an RBI groundout from sophomore Raul Parada to score Bobby Pierce Jr., and Terranova scored on an attempted double steal. 

The score remained 2-0 until the seventh, when freshman Bryan Lorenz hit a two-run single to score Pierce and Terranova. In the eighth, Terranova doubled to bring in sophomore Brady Lord to make it 5-0 SMCC. 

The Cougars added four insurance runs in the ninth. Sophomore Marcus Romero hit a sacrifice fly to score freshman Drew Johnson, and Pierce Jr. slapped a two-run, two-out triple that scored sophomore Luke Jones and sophomore Christopher Mata. Terranova added an RBI single to score Pierce Jr. 

Pierce Jr. was 2 for 4 with three runs, an RBI, a walk, and his first triple of the year. Jones was 2 for 3 with a double, a run and a walk, and Lorenz had two RBIs and a stolen base.  

Feb. 19 Recap

A six-run second inning and a four-run fifth gave SMCC a big early lead, and the Cougars scored three runs in the eighth to post the run-rule victory. 

The Geckos scored a single run in the first and second off Romero (1-0), who settled in to throw 5.1 innings with six hits, three earned runs, and seven strikeouts. 

SMCC then struck for six runs in the bottom of the second and, after GWCC scored a run in the fifth, posted four more runs in the fourth. In the eighth, SMCC sealed the victory with three runs in the eighth. 

Pierce Jr. was 2 for 4 with three runs, two RBIs, a walk, and two stolen bases. Terranova had three hits, two RBIs, a double, a stolen base, and a run, and Parada had two RBIs. Lorenz had two hits, including a double and two runs scored, and Johnson drew two walks, doubled, scored two runs, and had one RBI. 

Jones was 1 for 3 with two RBIs and a run, and Mata had scored two runs and stole two bases. 

Freshman Thomas Peck tossed 2.1 innings of relief with three hits, one unearned run, and two strikeouts, and freshman Sam Yeager had a strikeout in relief.