The Pima Community College softball team surpassed the 40-win mark and kept its two-game lead in the ACCAC Division II standings on Tuesday following a doubleheader sweep of Scottsdale at West Campus Aztec Field.
The No. 7 Aztecs (41-6, 33-5 ACCAC) have a magic number of 3 to earn the ACCAC Division II regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
South Mountain (40-11, 31-7) remained two games behind following its sweep of Glendale on the road.
Pima and South Mountain have four conference games remaining in the regular season. They split their six games against each other.
Sophomore Jiselle Nunez (Tucson) went 5 for 6 with three home runs, 11 RBIs and three runs in the sweep of Scottsdale (20-25, 16-20) of scores of 7-2 and 8-3.
Freshman Isabel Rodriguez (Walden Grove) was 3 for 5 with five runs while sophomore Julissa Lopez (Tucson) was 2 for 6 with an RBI and three runs.
Freshman Adriana Machado (Canyon del Oro) and sophomore Belen Camacho (Pueblo) got the wins in the circle.
Game 1: (7) Pima 7, Scottsdale 2
The Aztecs rallied with six unanswered runs to take the first game.
Down 2-1, the Aztecs scored three runs in the third inning.
After back-to-back singles from Rodriguez and sophomore Clarissa Figueroa (Mountain View), Lopez hit an RBI double to score Rodriguez to tie the game at 2. Nunez followed with a two-run single to left field, driving in Figueroa and Lopez to make it 4-2.
The Aztecs tacked on three more runs in the sixth inning. Sophomore Amerika Lopez-Bedoy (Sunnyside) hit an RBI single to plate freshman Kayla Hendrix (Canyon del Oro). Lopez-Bedoy and Rodriguez scored on errors in the inning.
Nunez also had an RBI single to tie the game in the first inning as she finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a walk. Rodriguez was 2 for 3 with three runs. Lopez-Bedoy and Lopez each had an RBI single and a run. Figueroa and Hendrix each scored a run.
Machado (16-2) picked up the win as she pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits with one strikeout and one walk on 73 pitches. Camacho pitched the final 2 2/3 with four strikeouts on 22 pitches.
Game 2: (7) Pima 8, Scottsdale 3
Nunez’s bat came alive in the second game as she hit three home runs and drove in all eight runs as Camacho silenced the Scottsdale bats in the final 4 2/3 innings of relief.
Nunez hit her first home run in the first inning, bringing around Rodriguez and Lopez to put the Aztecs up 3-0.
The Artichokes scored three runs in the third inning to tie the game.
The Aztecs responded in the fifth. Figueroa hit a lead-off single and Lopez drew a walk. Nunez hit her second homer to left field making it 6-3.
Pima added two insurance runs in the sixth inning as Rodriguez drew a lead-off walk. With two outs, Nunez drove her third homer over the fence to left field.
Nunez went 3 for 3 with eight RBIs and three runs. Rodriguez had a single and two runs while Lopez hit a single with two runs. Figueroa finished with a single and a run.
Camacho (13-2) got the win in relief, giving up one hit with eight strikeouts on 45 pitches.
The Aztecs will be back at the West Campus Aztec Field on Saturday for an ACCAC doubleheader against Chandler-Gilbert (14-25, 12-22).
They will celebrate their sophomores after the doubleheader.
First pitch is at 12 p.m.
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