SMCC Baseball Goes 2-2 Over Spring Break

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (23-9, 9-7 ACCAC) swept a doubleheader from Western Nebraska CC on Mar. 14, winning 9-3 (7 innings) and 10-0 (6 innings). Three days later, SMCC fell twice to Arizona Western in an ACCAC home doubleheader on Mar. 17, losing 3-1 in both contests. 

Western Nebraska CC Recap

SMCC won game one 9-3 as the Cougars led 5-0 through three innings and 9-0 after five innings. WNCC scored three runs in the top of the seventh before the rally ended. 

Freshman Sam Christiansen led SMCC with three hits, including a double, and scored three runs with a stolen base. Sophomore Carter Richey blasted a home run and finished 1-for-2 with two runs, three RBIs, a stolen base and two walks, and sophomore Kenneth Jimenez added a double, an RBi and three walks. 

Freshman Jaden Miranda went 1-for-2 with two runs, a. stolen base and an RBI, and sophomore Connor Schneider drove in two runs.

Raul Garayzar earned the win with 1.1 innings of work, finishing with one hit, two walks and a strikeout. Jacob Beltran started the game and went 1.2 innings with three strikeouts. Coleman Anderson earned the save with four innings of relief work. He allowed three earned runs and fanned two. 

In game two, SMCC scored multiple runs in three of the first four innings and held WNCC to a single base hit. Nikolas Miller tossed the first two innings with two strikeouts, Josaiah Estrella tossed the middle two frames to earn the win, and Matthew Lighthall went the final two innings with three strikeouts. 

Core Jackson, Jared Glinski and Richey hit home runs for the Cougars in the victory. Richey went 2-for-3 with two runs, two stolen bases, three RBIs and a walk, Glinski was 2-for-4 with the solo home run and a triple, and Jackson hit his second home run of the year. 

Sophomore Michael Diaz was 3-for-4 with a run, two stolen bases and two RBIs, and sophomore Brian Leon was 1-for-1 with two runs, two walks and a stolen base. Schneider added a steal and a run scored, and Christiansen stole two bases with two runs scored. Finally, sophomore Landen Argabright was 2-for-3 with an RBi. 

Arizona Western Recap

The Matadors' pitchers kept the Cougars' bats quiet in a pair of 3-1 victories on Mar. 17. In game one, Schneider gave SMCC a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice bunt that scored Jayden Smith. However, the Matadors tied the game in the sixth and scored a pair in the top of the eighth to win the contest. 

Freshman Dominic Chacon, freshman Karsen Waslefsky, Christiansen, and Smith all had two hits for the Cougars. 

Sophomore Jaxon Jelkin went six innings and took a no-decision on the mound. He fanned eight and allowed two hits, four walks and one earned run. Sophomore Matthew Martinez took the loss with two innings of relief. He allowed two earned runs with three Ks. 

In the second game, Arizona Western scored a run in the first and third to take an early 2-0 lead. SMCC scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to get within one run, but the Matadors tacked on an insurance run in the seventh to post the 3-1 victory. 

Christiansen had a pair of hits and a stolen base, and Chacon had the Cougars' lone RBI. Schneider, Argabright, Richey and Chacon all had base hits. 

Beltran took the loss with six innings of work. He had four strikeouts with two hits, one earned run, and three walks. Sophomore Jackson Thomas tossed the seventh for SMCC.