(Phoenix, AZ) The Pima Community College baseball team (37-9, 21-9 in ACCAC) secured two big wins on the road on Saturday in its ACCAC conference doubleheader at South Mountain Community College (32-14, 24-6).
The No. 16 ranked Aztecs earned a sweep against the No. 3 ranked Cougars. Freshman Leon Cereceres closed out the day going 5 for 8 with three RBIs and seven runs scored. Sophomore Collin Senior (Horizon HS) also finished 5 for 8 with six RBIs, two runs and two walks. Fellow sophomore Caden Richards went 3 for 7 with two RBIs and four runs. Freshman Andres Castro (Pusch Ridge Christian HS) and sophomore Nate Gray (Queen Creek HS) picked up the wins
Game 1: (16) Pima Aztecs 8, (3) South Mountain Cougars 7
The Aztecs rallied from a five-run deficit to shock the Cougars in the first game while the relief pitching held the South Mountain offense in check.
Trailing 7-2, the Aztecs starting the rally in the 5th inning when sophomore Nolan Ganter (Pinnacle HS) hit an RBI single to bring in Cereceres.
Cereceres came through on a two-run RBI single to score Senior and freshman Zach Plasschaert in the 6th inning to make it 7-5. Cereceres would score on an error by the shortstop while Richards scored on an error by the catcher as Pima tied the game at 7-7 after scoring four runs in the 6th inning.
Freshman Jackson Glueck hit a leadoff double to start the 7th inning. Freshman Matt MacDonald came in as a pinch runner and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Senior hit a groundout to shortstop, but it scored MacDonald to put the Aztecs ahead.
Sophomore Tsubasa Tomii pitched the 7th inning and struck out the first two batters. The Cougars got two runners on base via a walk and a single, but the next batter flied out to end the game.
Cereceres finished the game 3 for 4 with two RBIs and three runs. Richards went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run. Plasschaert was 2 for 2 with an RBI, a run and two walks while Senior closed it out going 1 for 2 with an RBI, two runs and two walks. Ganter was 1 for 4 with an RBI.
Castro picked up the win as he pitched two and one-third innings in relief, giving up one hit with three strikeouts. Tomii picked up his third save of the season going one inning, giving up one hit with two strikeouts and one walk.
PCC 1 0 0 1 1 4 1 8 10 1
SMCC 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 7 12 3
W – Castro (2-1). S – Tomii (3). 2B: Senior, Glueck. SB: Richards, Cereceres.
Game 2: (16) Pima Aztecs 14, (3) South Mountain Cougars 8
The Aztecs took the lead in the 1stinning and countered a rally in the 9th inning to hold off South Mountain.
The Cougars scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to cut Pima’s lead to 10-8. The Aztecs came back with four runs in the top of the 9th inning. The Aztecs loaded the bases with a single and two walks. Glueck drew a bases loaded walk to score sophomore Andrew Grenert (Horizon HS), which was followed by freshman Sean Barta hitting a two-run RBI single bringing in Cereceres and Richards to make it 13-8. Senior capped off the inning with an RBI double to plate Glueck.
Sophomore Seth Lee pitched the 9th inning and got three strikeouts as the Cougars left one runner on base to end the game.
Senior hit a two-run RBI double in the 1st inning to help put the Aztecs up 3-0.
The Aztecs went up 7-0 in the 4th inning when Glueck hit a two-run RBI single to bring in Cereceres and Richards. Two batters later, Senior hit an RBI single to score Ganter.
The Cougars scored two runs in the bottom of the 4th, but the Aztecs came back with two of their own in the top of the 5th inning. Cereceres and Richards had back-to-back RBI hits to make it 9-2.
The Cougars scored three runs in the 5th inning, but the Aztecs tacked a run on in the 6th inning frame after Grenert’s RBI triple scored Plasschaert as Pima led 10-5.
Senior closed out the game going 4 for 6 with five RBIs and three doubles. Cereceres was 2 for 4 with an RBI and four runs while Glueck went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and three runs. Grenert finished 3 for 4 with an RBI and run and Richards was 1 for 3 with an RBI and three runs.
Gray remained undefeated on the mound this season as he pitched six innings, giving up five runs (five earned) on five hits with 12 strikeouts and seven walks on 132 pitches.
PCC 3 0 1 3 2 1 0 0 4 14 16 1
SMCC 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 3 0 8 10 1
W – S.Valenzuela (3-1) 2B: Senior 3, Cereceres. 3B: Grenert, Cereceres. SB: Glueck.
The Aztecs will be back at the West Campus Aztec Baseball Field on Saturday when they host Mesa Community College. First game starts 12:00 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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