Puma baseball snagged a late lead and defeated Chandler-Gilbert 14-10 on Thursday in game one of the NJCAA Region I Tournament.

CGCC opened up scoring in the first inning, when they scored five runs. They added on one more run in the bottom of the second inning to give them a 6-0 lead. The Pumas powered back, scoring two runs in the fourth inning and three runs in the fifth inning. 

 

Down 6-5 in the top of the sixth inning, the Pumas pulled away for good with six runs giving them an 11-6 lead. The game was tied at six with the Pumas batting in the top of the sixth when Cole Williams doubled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring three runs. Also in the inning, Drew Kaatz singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run, Dayton Francis singled on a 0-1 count, scoring one run, and Jake Alwine grounded out, scoring one run.

 

Rob Liddington collected four hits in five at bats to help lead the Pumas to victory. Liddington singled in the first, singled in the fourth, singled in the seventh, and singled in the ninth.

Kadden Drew started the game for the Pumas. The lefthander allowed nine hits and six runs over five and a third innings, striking out four and walking one  Drew Bond was the winning pitcher for the Pumas. Bond allowed five hits and four runs over three and a third innings, striking out three. Tomas Urbina threw one-third of an inning in relief out of the bullpen. Urbina recorded the last out to earn the save for the Pumas.

The Pumas racked up 17 hits on the day. Liddington, Austin Corbett, Williams, and Kaatz all managed multiple hits for the Pumas. Liddington led the team with four hits in five at bats.

Game two of the best-of-three game series is Friday afternoon at 3pm at Chandler-Gilbert.