HENDERSON, Nev. -- The Arizona Western College baseball team suffered a 13-3 loss to Central Arizona College in a run-rule shorted Region I playoff matchup Thursday afternoon. The Matadors held an early lead but could not overcome a late surge by the Vaqueros as the game ended after seven innings. The loss in the third in the past four games for Arizona Western versus Central Arizona and puts the Matadors in the hot seat. One more loss for Arizona Western in the tournament will mark the end of their season.

Arizona Western struck first, manufacturing a three-run third inning. Leadoff singles from Brayden Hibler and Jamie Beerman set the stage, followed by a hit from Victor Lopez, who advanced on a throwing error that allowed Hibler to score. Beerman and Lopez later crossed the plate on wild pitches, and the Matadors capitalized on defensive miscues to take a 3-0 advantage.

Despite the promising start, the Matadors' offense stalled against Central Arizona starter Marcus Metz, who struck out 11 across six innings and limited Arizona Western to just six hits with no extra-base knocks. The Vaqueros' offense erupted after four scoreless innings, scoring four runs in the fifth and breaking the game open with a seven-run sixth. The Matadors' lineup was hampered by 13 total strikeouts and failed to record an RBI, relying on errors and wild pitches for all three runs.

On the mound, Mattia Bernardis kept Central Arizona in check through four innings but was chased in the fifth after surrendering a game-tying three-run home run to Chris Parkin and a sacrifice fly as the Vaqueros surged ahead. Reliever Gregorys Mateo struggled in the sixth, yielding seven earned runs, including a three-run blast by Ty Silva. Anthomy Lucero finished the game out of the bullpen, allowing one run over 1.1 innings as Central Arizona added two more runs in the seventh.

Despite the loss, Brayden Hibler provided a spark, reaching base in all three plate appearances and scoring once. Jamie Beerman added a hit and a run from the bottom of the order, while Elias Huber reached base twice and stole a base. Alessandro Laise contributed a pinch-hit single in his lone at-bat.

Up Next

Defending champion Central Arizona moves to the championship game and will now need to be defeated twice in a row to be eliminated. No. 3 Arizona Western will next face No. 2 Cochise College in an elimination game with the winner advancing to face Central Arizona. Cochise College defeated ACCAC regual season champion College of Southern Nevada 9-7 on VFriday to eliminated the Coyotes. Arizona Western and Cochise College is a rematch of Thursday's 5-4, 13 inning win for Arizona Western. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday morning. 

You can watch the game on the Coyote Sports Network on the link provided below. 

https://team1sports.com/csn/