Cougar Baseball Splits Series with SLCC to Open 2022

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (2-2) split its four-game series with Salt Lake Community College at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 28-29. The Cougars dropped both ends of the doubleheader the first day (9-1 and 4-1) before sweeping the two games (8-5 and 8-3) on the second day.

Jan. 28 Doubleheader Recap

The first day of the season was not too kind to the Cougars, who lost 9-1 and 4-1 to the Bruins. 

In the first game, five different Cougars had a single and three recorded stolen bases. Sophomore Gillis Champagne, who started in right field, scored a run and stole a base. Freshman Carter Richey, the team's designated hitter, had an RBI.

Redshirt freshman Easton Erwin had a base hit and a stolen base, and rookies Jayden Smith and Connor Schneider had a base hit.

Sophomore Carter Krosky took the loss for SMCC, falling to 0-1 on the season. He allowed four earned runs in 2.1 innings to go with five strikeouts. Sophomore Robert Schardt worked 1.2 innings with two strikeouts, and an earned run.

Freshman Max Maholland worked an inning with two K's and two earned runs, and sophomore Charlie Deeds tossed the final inning and allowed one earned run to go with a strikeout.

SMCC managed one hit in the second game, falling 9-1 to SLCC. Freshman Taylor Tractenberg had a single in the loss. 

Freshman Raul Garayzar took the loss for SMCC to move his record to 0-1 on the year. He went 4.0 innings and allowed three earned runs with five strikeouts.

Freshman Eric Perez tossed the final 2.0 innings, fanning three batters and allowing one earned run. 

Jan. 29 Recap

The Cougars' fortunes flipped with the new calendar day, and they defeated the Bruins 8-5 and 5-3 to sweep the doubleheader.

In the first game, SMCC scored five runs in the second and tacked on three more in the fourth. The Cougars had 11 base hits, two doubles and five stolen bases in the victory. 

Freshmen Jayden Smith and Connor Schneider each had three hits in the victory. Schneider had a double and scored a run, while Smith stole two bases, drove in an RBI and scored a run.

Freshman Josaiah Estrella also had two stolen bases and added a run scored and an RBI. Redshirt freshman Easton Erwin, freshman Kyle Alexander and sophomore Gillis Champagne had a base hit, a run scored and an RBI, and freshman Gustavo Sosa had the team's second double. 

Sophomore Ryan Figueroa started the game and picked up his first win of the season. He tossed four innings and allowed two hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Drew Bond recorded the save with 2.2 innings of relief with four strikeouts, and one earned run.

In game two, SMCC broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth and added an insurance run in the seventh to even the series. The Cougars stole another four bases and added a double in the win. 

Smith had his second multi-hit and mutli-steal game of the day, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs and two stolen bases. Jacob Alexander and Quade Swearingen had the other steals for South Mountain CC, and Swearingen scored a run as a pinch-runner. 

Schneider, Alexander and Tractenberg had the other Cougar base hits, and Tractenberg recorded a double. He and Erwin also scored a run. 

Freshman Jacob Beltran picked up his first win of the season with 3.2 innings of relief. He allowed one hit and fanned two batters. Sophomore Nolan Livsey started the game for SMCC and tossed 3.1 innings with three strikeouts and three earned runs.