In a wild, back and forth contest, Phoenix won its opening game at the NJCAA Division II Baseball Tournament over Frederick, 10-8, Saturday.
The Bears, seeded eighth, raced to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings, saw No. 9-seeded Frederick battle back to take an 8-7 lead, and then scored three times in the bottom of the sixth.
PC will now take on the No. 1 seed, LSU-Eunice, Sunday at approximately 5:15 Arizona time. The tournament is being held in Enid, Okla.
Phoenix got an RBI single from Carter Paine in the sixth and then had Jarron Wilcox and Dylan McKee draw bases loaded walks to cement the victory.
Tijmen Takke hit a grand slam home run to highlight the Bears' five-run second inning. He finished with two hits and five RBIs. Gino Caperon had three hits and Evan Rice added two.
Kade Hamrick pitched four scoreless innings to close the game and got the victory.
