Matadors outlast Golden Eagles 12-10 in 11 innings
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arizona Western College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 1 |
|
Utah State Eastern | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 0 |
YUMA, Ariz. – The Arizona Western Matadors' baseball team (1-0) scored five runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat Utah State-Eastern (0-1) 12-10 in game one of a doubleheader on Friday afternoon at Lied Field at Morse Stadium to open the 2023 season.
Utah State-Eastern opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead on a groundout. The Matadors evened the score in the fifth inning when Oskar Stark led off the frame with a single before moving first to third when Robert Miranda shot a single into right field, putting runners at the corners. Marcus Graham picked up his first hit of the day, singling into left field to score Stark, tying the game at 1-1.
Arizona Western starter Juan Gil Franco tossed six innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six batters in a no-decision.
Reece Longstaff led off the top of the eighth inning with a double off the fence in center and later stole third base to put the go ahead run ninety feet away with one out. Tyler Leroy gave put the Matadors in front with a ground out, scoring Longstaff to put the Matadors in front, 2-1. A wild pitch allowed Stark to cross the plate with two outs in the eighth inning to push the lead to 3-1 before Miranda picked up his second hit of the day to score Wesley Estrella from third base to extend the Matadors' advantage to 4-1.
The Golden Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring three runs before Matador reliever Steven Vazquez came on to limit the damage.
After leaving the bases loaded in the ninth, the Matadors scored three runs in the tenth inning thanks to a Freddy Oquendo fielder's choice, a wild pitch and a Ben Fierenzi single to give the Matadors a 7-4 lead. Utah State-Easter responded, tying the game with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning with a three-run homer.
LeRoy gave the Matadors the lead back in the 11th inning, pulling a ball into the left field corner for an RBI double, putting the Matadors back in front 8-7 before Estrella made it a 9-7 lead with chopper up the middle to score Leroy. Oquendo made it a four-run inning, driving in his second and third runs of the game with a single to left, pushing the lead to 11-7. One batter later, Fierenzi made it a 12-7 lead with an RBI single.