Glendale came up just short in a back-and-forth battle on Thursday afternoon, falling 9–8 to Santa Ana at Stengel Field. Despite pounding out 15 hits, the Vaqueros couldn't hold off a late rally as Santa Ana pushed across three runs in the ninth to seal the win.
Santa Ana struck first with a pair of runs in the opening inning, but Glendale quickly answered. In the second, Jordan Viramontes laced an RBI double to score Mike Bang, and the Vaqueros evened the game at 2–2 after Matt Hazlegrove reached on an error that allowed another run to cross.
Glendale grabbed its first lead in the third when Jordan Lewallen launched a solo home run to make it 3–2.
After Santa Ana regained control with three runs in the fifth, the Vaqueros responded with their biggest inning of the day. Mike Bang delivered an RBI double to cut the deficit to one, and moments later Jaquez Noah crushed a three-run homer to left, flipping the score to 7–5 in favor of Glendale. The blast was Noah's biggest swing of the afternoon, as he finished with three RBIs and two hits.
Glendale added an insurance run in the seventh when Adonis Jenkins singled and advanced to second on the throw, driving in Bang to extend the lead to 8–6.
Offensively, the Vaqueros were relentless at the plate. Jackson Lyons led the way with three hits and a walk, while Bang scored three times and collected two doubles. Miguel Villegas added two hits, and Viramontes finished 2-for-4 with an RBI double.
On the mound, Jimmy Cafferty went 4.2 innings in the start, allowing five runs (three earned). Carson Maymo provided a strong relief outing with 1.1 scoreless innings and three strikeouts, and Jorge Martinez recorded a key out in the middle innings. Santa Ana, however, capitalized late against the Glendale bullpen, with a two-run homer in the ninth proving to be the difference. Cris Banuelos was tagged with the loss.
Glendale drops to 10-5 overall but showed plenty of offensive firepower in the tightly contested matchup. The Vaqueros will look to bounce back in their next outing as they prepare for the start of conference play next week.