#10 Apaches drop 2 of 3 to Arizona Western on the road
YUMA, Ariz. --- The NJCAA DI 10th-ranked Cochise Baseball team took to the road last weekend visiting Arizona Western College for a three-game conference series. The Apaches, winners of a program record 16 straight, began a slew of road games to finish off the regular season. The final nine games of the regular season will be played on the road as the Apaches aim to clinch their first postseason berth since 2022.
Game 1 (Friday, April 11th): Cochise 4, Arizona Western 10
Sophomore Mathis Nayral led the Apaches with the start on the mound Friday afternoon, in which Cochise fell to AWC 4-10. The Matadors got on the board in the second inning scoring five runs to take an early lead. Cochise responded with one run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to shorten the deficit, but AWC responded with five more runs in the bottom half of the sixth off of relief pitchers Collin Smith and Sam Pitts. Nayral gave up nine hits and six runs over five and one-third innings of work. Sophomore Alex Dabrowski and freshmen T.J. Shaw, Andrugh Yee, and Tyson Owens each had an RBI, while Shaw led the Apaches with three hits.
Game 2 (Friday, April 11th): Cochise 2, Arizona Western 9
In the second game of the double-header Friday, Cochise couldn't keep up with the Matador offense that collected 15 hits and nine runs on the day. AWC used a three-run seventh inning to pull away from the Apaches to secure the double-header sweep. Sophomore Alex Vanegas was the starting pitcher for Cochise, throwing five innings allowing eight hits and four runs. Daniel Gomez and Sotaro Ishida each threw in relief, surrendering seven total hits. Owens led the Apaches offensively with three hits. Sophomore Kenneth Rhein followed with two hits and two RBI's.
Game 3-14 innings (Saturday, April 12th): Cochise 7, Arizona Western 6
It took extra baseball for the Apaches to secure the third game of the series. A four-hour 14-inning game resulted in a Cochise win, thanks to a sacrifice fly in the top of the 14th inning by freshman infielder Sawyer Fech, scoring Alex Dabrowski. Fech led the way for Cochise with three RBI's, while Rhein was 2-for-6 at the plate. Sophomore Ramses Guerra was the starting pitcher for the Apaches, lasting four and one-third innings, allowing five hits with six strikeouts. Collin Smith, not expecting to pitch as much in relief as he did, lasted nine and two-thirds innings allowing five hits and three runs, while striking out six.
Up Next..
Cochise Baseball (40-10,21-9) will now head to Casa Grande to face conference foe Central Arizona College (30-14,16-13) for another three-game set beginning Friday, April 18th at 2:00 pm.