(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College baseball team (8-3, 1-1 in ACCAC) played its first two ACCAC conference games of the season on Saturday it hosted Mesa Community College (8-2, 1-1).
The No. 21 ranked Aztecs lost their four-run lead in the first game but took control to win the second game. Sophomore Leon Cereceres closed out the day going 5-for-8 with three runs scored. Sophomore Jackson Glueck was 4-for-9 with three RBIs and two runs. Freshman Damian Lorta (Desert View HS) was 2-for-6 with two RBIs, a run and two walks. Sophomore Jose Grijalva (Sunnyside HS) took the loss in relief and sophomore Owen Myers got the win in his start.
Game 1: Mesa Thunderbirds 5, (21) Pima Aztecs 4 (10 innings)
The Thunderbirds scored five unanswered runs to snatch the win in extra innings.
The Aztecs scored two runs in the 1st inning. Freshman Aciel Guillen (Salpointe Catholic HS) hit an RBI double to score Cereceres, who led off the inning with a single. Lorta made it 2-0 as he knocked in Guillen with his RBI single.
Glueck made it 4-0 in the 5th inning when he hit a two-run RBI single bringing in sophomore Ramon Martinez and Cereceres.
The Thunderbirds scored four runs to tie the game in the 6th inning and Mesa’s Jesse Aguirre hit a solo homer in the 10thto put them up for good. The Aztecs went down in order to end the game and had three hits in the final five innings.
Cereceres went 4-for-5 with two runs scored. Glueck went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and Guillen was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Lorta finished 1-for-4 with an RBI and a walk.
Grijalva took the loss as he pitched four and two-third innings, giving up one run (one earned) on three hits with five strikeouts on 49 pitches. Freshman Hayden Green (Sabino HS) pitched five shutout innings but struggled in the 6th as he went five and one-third innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
L – Grijalva (0-1). 2B: Guillen, Cereceres. SB: Cereceres.
Game 2: (21) Pima Aztecs 9, Mesa Thunderbirds 1 (7 innings)
The Aztecs broke the game open with eight unanswered runs to earn the split.
Freshman Cooper Kruk (Catalina Foothills HS) put the Aztecs up for good with a lead-off home run to left field to start the 3rd inning. Sophomore Quintin Hennesy (Horizon HS) hit a sacrifice-fly to score Glueck as Pima led 3-1.
The Aztecs got four straight RBI hits from freshman Adriel Figueroa-Brito, Kruk, Lorta and Glueck as part of their six-run 4th inning.
Figueroa-Brito closed out the game, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Kruk finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. Glueck was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Cereceres finished 1 for 3 with a run. Lorta was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run. Hennesy went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Myers picked up the win as he pitched four innings, giving up one run (none earned) on two hits with two strikeouts and one walk on 66 pitches. Sophomore Brady Hall got the save as he threw three innings, giving up one hit with six strikeouts and one walk on 49 pitches.
W – Myers (2-0). S – Hall (1). 2B: Glueck. HR: Kruk. SB: Figueroa-Brito, Kruk, Glueck, Cereceres, Hennesy.
The Aztecs will return to the West Campus Aztec Field on Tuesday when they host Paradise Valley Community College in an ACCAC conference doubleheader. First game starts at noon.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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