The Spartans kick off the 2017 season at the Coyote Border Battle. They opened up against Gateway Community College ranked 15^th in the country. The Geckos jumped out to an early lead in the first three innings. However, the Spartans would not be held down for long. A late rally and a dominant pitching performance from freshman Alec Myers mounted the comeback for the Spartans.
The next game looked to be the same; freshmen pitchers Trever Berg and Justin Caputo logged 8 innings giving up no earned runs. The Rough Riders of Yavapai College, ranked number 1 going into the weekend, seemed to be coasting to their first win of the year. In the 8th the Spartans scratched two runs to tie Yavapai at two all. With one out in the bottom of the 9^th the Spartans had runners on second and third, failing to take advantage of the situation proved to be the difference. Yavapai took the lead in the 10^th and would not relinquish it, winning 4-2 in extras. The come from behind fight from the Spartans seemed to be the theme of the weekend.
The third game proved to be one in the same, after falling behind 2-0 to Arizona Western the Spartans clawed back to tie the game, just to give up the lead once again. Once again in the bottom of the 8^th they battle back, taking the lead with 2 runs scored with two outs. Freshman Ben Riding hustled all the way from first base to score what turned out to be the winning run. (4-3)
The fourth and final game, against Central Arizona (24^th in the nation), turned out much like the Yavapai battle. The Vaqueros of Central Arizona led 5-1 at one point but found themselves tied with the Spartans at five in the bottom of the 8^th inning. Similar to the Yavapai matchup the Spartans had every opportunity to take the lead with no outs and runners on second and third. After failing to score Arizona Western took advantage. The Vaqs scored in the top of the 9^th and shut down the Spartans to take the game by a final of 6-5.
As tough as the two losses were the outlook on the season seems to be very optimistic, with the promise of offensive production. The Spartans take on Paradise Valley CC in a four game series starting Friday February 2, 2017.