#6 Thunderbirds shut out Coyotes, 2-0

Mesa, AZ – In a game that resembled the likes of an old-fashioned pitchers duel, the Mesa Community College baseball team (11-1, 2-1 ACCAC) outlasted the Chandler-Gilbert Community College Coyotes (5-5, 2-1 ACCAC) on Tuesday afternoon in Mesa to secure the 2-0 shutout victory.

While Mesa sophomore's Jared Crockett and Esteban Martinez totaled multi-hit efforts, the stars of the show took place on the pitcher's mound.  

Chandler-Gilbert's sophomore Branden Redfern pitched six innings of stellar relief work and only
allowed two runs in the process.  

Unfortunately for Redfern and the Coyotes, Mesa's sophomore Chase Merriman did one better as he struck out five batters on the day and didn't allow a run to score on eight hits in eight and two-thirds innings of work.  

Both teams had their opportunities to score in the first six innings of play, but solid command from both Redfern and Merriman kept both offenses in check.  

Then in the bottom of the seventh, the Thunderbirds struck first when sophomore Garrett Smith reached safely at first base on an errant throw from Chandler-Gilbert's Rainer Ausmus to score Martinez from third and give Mesa the lead, 1-0.  

Mesa tacked on another run in the eighth when freshman Ben Lewis roped an RBI-single out to right field, scoring sophomore Hunter Bross from second to give the Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead going into the final inning.  

With Merriman and freshman Jake Suddreth working together to sit down the Coyotes in the ninth, Mesa used the 2-0 shutout to keep their flawless home record intact (10-0) on the young campaign.  

The Thunderbirds will look to stay perfect against the Coyotes on the season when they head to Chandler-Gilbert on Wednesday afternoon for a scheduled 3:00 p.m. MST first pitch.