SMCC Baseball Defeats Chandler-Gilbert CC, Mesa CC

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (40-14, 32-6 ACCAC) defeated Chandler-Gilbert CC 13-8 on April 22 and Mesa CC 13-1 (6 innings) in a pair of ACCAC road games. Bryan Lorenz led SMCC with three hits, and Marcus Romero and Nuri Todd hit home runs as the Cougars defeated the Coyotes in a battle of postseason squads. The next day, Romero went deep again, Landon Springmeyer also launched a home run, and five Cougars had two hits as SMCC defeated the Thunderbirds. 

CGCC Recap

SMCC led 3-1 after three innings, but CGCC fought back to take a 6-4 lead after a four-run sixth. SMCC immediately retook the lead with three runs in the seventh and added six insurance runs in the ninth to post the 13-8 victory. 

Romero and Todd went back-to-back to start the third, and Joe Terranova delivered a two-out RBI double to score Christopher Mata. In the sixth, Drew Johnson plated Raul Parada with an RBI double to give SMCC a 4-2 lead. 

Mata and Bobby Pierce Jr. drew walks to start the seventh, and Mata scored on an RBI double from Lorenz. Parada tied the game with an RBI double that scored Pierce Jr., and SMCC reclaimed the lead when Lorenz scored on a wild pitch. 

The ninth inning saw Lorenz score on an error, Springmeyer deliver a two-run single, Pierce Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk, and Lorenz hit an RBI double that scored Todd and Mata. 

Lorenz was 3 for 6 with three RBIs, two runs, and a double, while Parada was 2 for 3 with two runs, two doubles, two walks, and an RBI. Mata scored three times and drew two walks, and Terranova finished with two RBIs. 

Robert Whitaker earned the win with 1.2 innings of relief work. He improved to 2-1 on the year with two hits, two runs, two walks, and two strikeouts. Fabian Ibarra started the game for SMCC and went three innings with three hits, two walks, two K's, and one run. 

Jack Cecil, Braeden McCarroll, and Quinn Robertson all saw time in relief in the victory. 

Mesa CC Recap

SMCC scored single runs in the first and fourth, added three in the fifth, and exploded for eight in the sixth to post the 13-1, six-inning victory. 

Johnson scored in the first, and Gavin Short hit an RBI double to score Terranova in the fourth, giving SMCC a 2-0 advantage. 

In the fifth, Lorenz recorded an RBI single that scored Brayden Grantham and Lorenz and Parada scored on an error in the outfield. 

Romero led off the sixth with a solo home run, Lorenz hit a two-run single that scored Grantham and Derek Montijo, Terranova drew a bases-loaded walk, Short had an RBi groundout, and Springmeyer blasted a three-run home run. 

Lorenz, Parada, Terranova, Short, and Springmeyer all had two hits, and Johnson, Lorenz, Parada, Terranova, and Grantham all scored twice. 

Thomas Peck improved to 3-3 on the season with three innings of hitless relief work and three strikeouts. Lukas Geisler started the game for SMCC and went two innings with two hits and one strikeout. Matt Elliot tossed the sixth for SMCC.