Ed Petruska-Pinal Central

SIGNAL PEAK — Lack of focus was not an issue for the third-ranked Central Arizona College baseball team in its two-game series against Mesa.

The Vaqueros defeated the Thunderbirds 10-1 on Saturday at McSwain Field to maintain their hold on first place in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference, one day after posting a 5-0 road victory over the last-place Thunderbirds.

The win was the 24th in a row for Central, which is 35-5 overall, 22-2 in the ACCAC and 14-1 at home. Mesa (15-24, 3-21 ACCAC) has lost nine straight.

"We don't overlook anybody," CAC coach Anthony Gilich said. "We're not taking anybody lightly."

The Vaqueros had not scored more than six runs in their previous five games. But in addition to collecting 12 hits on Saturday, they also amassed an astonishing 19 free passes as Mesa's four pitchers combined for 15 walks and four hit batters.

"We couldn't quite cash in like we wanted to," Gilich said. "But shoot, we'll take 10 runs. You can never complain about a 10-run game."

Central stranded 18 baserunners, 12 in scoring position. The Vaqueros left the bases loaded in the first, second and sixth innings.

Blake Avila went 3 for 4 with a three-run homer (his second of the season) in Central's four-run fifth inning. Luke Thiele was 3 for 3 with an RBI double in the third and a run-scoring single in the seventh. Tyrese Johnson went 3 for 4, driving in CAC's first run with a two-out single in the second, and Jonathon Hernandez was 2 for 2 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Fisher Pyatt contributed a sacrifice fly in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch in the third. Price DeBoskie came home on a passed ball in the seventh.

Once again, the pitching was magnificent for the Vaqueros. Patrick Steitz (7-1, 1.38 ERA) went six innings before giving way to Michael Trausch, who retired all nine batters he faced to register his second save.

Steitz allowed four hits, struck out 12 and walked none. Mesa's lone run came on a leadoff homer by Bret Housel in the fifth.

Steitz has notched 80 strikeouts while issuing just seven walks in 52 1/3 innings pitched. The sophomore right-hander began Saturday's game by striking out five of the first six batters. He struck out seven of the first eight in his previous start on March 25 against Phoenix.

"This year compared to last year, I wanted to come out more aggressive early," he said. "I'm more confident, for sure. I'm definitely really excited about the numbers I'm putting up."

Steitz said "the slider has been a huge pitch for me this year and I'm getting a lot of swings and misses with the fastball."

Trausch, a left-hander, struck out the side in the seventh. He got two strikeouts in both the eighth and ninth innings.

Three pitchers limited the Thunderbirds to one hit in Friday's game. Starter Matt Wilkinson (7-0) allowed one hit in 6 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 0.94. He struck out 13 of the 20 batters he faced and walked none.

Johnson went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Braydon Rogers went 3 for 4, Avila went 3 for 5 and Lou Albrecht went 2 for 4 as CAC finished with 12 hits.