Tucson, AZ – The Pima Community College baseball team (9-3, 1-1 in ACCAC) opened ACCAC conference play on Saturday at Scottsdale Community College (6-5, 1-1).
Freshman Rafael Padilla (Nogales HS) was a bright spot for the Aztecs at the plate as he finished the day 4 for 8 with a homerun. Freshman Michael Wong earned his first win of the season.
Game 1: Scottsdale CC Artichokes 6, Pima CC Aztecs 5 (7 innings): The Aztecs rally fell short as they trailed 6-0 and scored five runs in the 6th inning.
Sophomore Logan Klunder and Javier Nava each hit RBI singles while Padilla and sophomore Marcus Mendez (Desert View HS) took advantage of some miscues to score runs. Freshman Matthew Hackman (Empire HS) hit a sacrifice fly RBI but the Aztecs stranded a runner at third to end the inning.
Padilla went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Hackman had two walks and an RBI. Klunder was 1 for 4 with an RBI and freshman Enrique Porchas (Kofa HS) went 1 for 4 with a run scored.
Sophomore Jose Contreras (Tucson HS) took the loss (2-1) as he threw three and one-third innings giving up six runs (three earned) on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks.
PCC 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 6 1
SCC 3 0 1 2 0 0 x 6 9 1
Game 2: Pima CC Aztecs 3, Scottsdale CC Artichokes 2: Padilla helped the Aztecs strike first in the opening inning as he crushed a three-run homer to plate sophomore Martin Garcia (Tucson HS) and Porchas.
The Artichokes scored one in the 3rd inning and one in the 6th as their rally fell short in the end.
Padilla finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Klunder and sophomore Jesus Solis (Nogales HS) each finished 1 for 3.
Wong picked up his first win (1-1) as he threw five innings giving up one run (one earned) on one hit with five strikeouts and one walk. Sophomore Isaac Lopez (Nogales HS) earned his first save as he shut out Scottsdale for the final two and one-third innings giving up no hits with two strikeouts.
PCC 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1
SCC 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 4
The Aztecs return to the West Campus Baseball Field on Tuesday when they host GateWay Community College for an ACCAC conference doubleheader. First pitch is at noon.
