Baseball opens home schedule with 5-2 win over Northeastern

The Arizona Western Matadors Baseball team (3-2) returned home to Walk Kammann Baseball Field with a 5-2 win over Northeastern (0-2) on Friday afternoon.

Baseball opens home schedule with 5-2 win over Northeastern
Video Box Score
February 3, 2023
YUMA, Ariz. – The Arizona Western Matadors Baseball team (3-2) returned home to Walk Kammann Baseball Field with a 5-2 win over Northeastern (0-2) on Friday afternoon.
 
Juan Gil Franco tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out nine to help the Matadors open the home portion of the 2023 schedule with a win.
 
The Matadors used some small ball to open the scoring in the first inning thanks to back-to-back bunt singles and an error on a double steal that allowed Jared Davis to score from third, giving the Matadors a 1-0 lead.
 
Oskar Stark pushed the Matadors' lead to 2-0 with a solo homer to left field in the fourth inning, his first of the season. Gabriel Perez made it a two-run inning by bouncing a single into center field, upping the lead to 3-0.
 
Perez finished the game with two hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI while Davis also collected a pair of hits, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Stark added the Matadors' fourth run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the fifth before Davis led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple, later scoring on a Ben Fierenzi groundout to stretch the lead to 5-0.
 
Fiernzi was the third Matador to record two hits in the win, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Northeastern scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning before Roland Marte came on in the ninth inning, striking out the side, in order, to earn the save.
 
The Matadors are back at home on Saturday, February 4, hosting Northeastern in a doubleheader beginning at noon at Walt Kammann Baseball Field.