Padilla’s flawless effort at the plate helps Aztecs baseball sweep Central Arizona College

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(Tucson, AZ)  The Pima Community College baseball team (30-14, 16-11 in ACCAC) earned a much-needed road sweep against fellow ACCAC Division I team Central Arizona College (30-16, 16-12) on Tuesday in Coolidge.

Sophomore Rafael Padilla (Nogales HS) could not be contained as he finished the day 4 for 4 with five RBIs, four runs and three walks. Fellow sophomore Phillip Sikes closed out the day going 3 for 8 with three RBIs and three runs scored. The Aztecs drew 19 walks on the day. Sophomores Austin Bryan (Sahuarita HS) and Conner Nantkes picked up the wins on the mound.

Game 1: Pima CC Aztecs 7, Central Arizona College Vaqueros 6

The Aztecs rallied after trailing by five runs on two occasions. They put up five in the 5^th inning and scored the go-ahead run in the 6^th.

After trailing 5-0 after the 3^rd inning and 6-1 after the 4^th, the rally was on. Sikes hit a two-run RBI single with the bases loaded to plate sophomore Garett Lake and freshman Cole Cummings. Padilla hit a sacrifice-fly RBI and freshman Karl Koerper drove in Sikes to cut the deficit to 6-5. Sophomore Matthew Hackman (Empire HS) scored on a balk with the bases loaded to tie the game.

Sophomore Javier Nava hit a leadoff double in the 6^th and freshman JJ Rollon (Skyline HS) drove him in with an RBI single to put the Aztecs ahead for good.

Bryan retired the side in the bottom of the 7^th to give Pima the win.
Sikes finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Koerper was also 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Padilla went 1 for 1 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk while Rollon was 1 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Bryan got the win (8-1) in a relief appearance as he threw the final three innings giving up one hit with four strikeouts on 40 pitches.

PCC    0 0 0 1 5 1 0   7 8 2
CAC   0 2 3 1 0 0 0   6 6 1

Game 2: Pima CC Aztecs 16, Central Arizona College Vaqueros 2 (7 innings)

The offense exploded with eight runs in the 5^th, three runs in the 6^th and four runs in the 7^th inning to clinch the run-rule victory.

Padilla led off the 2^nd inning with a solo home run to put the Aztecs on the scoreboard. He drove in three runs as part of the 5^th inning surge. He hit an RBI single to score Sikes and drove in freshman Angel Ochoa (Canyon del Oro HS) and Cummings on another RBI single. The Aztecs scored three runs on passed balls in the 5^th.

Sophomore Richard Ware and Ochoa had RBI hits in the 7^th inning while Cummings had a sacrifice-fly RBI. The Aztecs drew 11 walks in the game.

Padilla finished the game 3 for 3 with four RBIs, three runs and two walks. Ware was 3 for 5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Ochoa went 2 for 2 with an RBI and two runs while Porchas was 2 for 3 with an RBI, two runs scored and two walks. Sikes closed it out going 1 for 5 with an RBI and two runs.

Nantes got the win (4-4) after he pitched five and one-third innings giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.

PCC      0 1 0 0 8 3 4   16 14  1
CAC     0 0 1 0 0 1 0    2    5  1

The Aztecs will continue ACCAC Division I play on Saturday when they face off with Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ. First pitch is at noon.

Courtesy of Pima Athletics