SIGNAL PEAK — When Nicco Blank takes the hill, the chances are very good that the Central Arizona College baseball team will come away with a victory.

The sophomore right-hander raised his record to 5-0 in the seven-inning opener of Saturday's doubleheader against Eastern Arizona, and the timing of his first shutout couldn't have been better as the Vaqueros prevailed 1-0.

Central completed the sweep with a 10-2 victory in the nine-inning second game to raise its record to 17-6 overall and 10-4 in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.

Blank allowed only three hits in lowering his ERA to 1.29. Eastern's Indalecio Romo also pitched a three-hitter, with the outcome being determined on CAC's unearned run in the second inning.

"It was a game we won 1-0, but it felt like 4-0 because of how in command of the game he was," CAC coach Jon Wente said of Blank, who struck out eight and walked three. "Nicco was as good as he always is. He pitched like an ace. You know he's going to give you his best effort and a chance to win."

The Gila Monsters (10-15, 3-10) mounted two major threats, putting runners at second and third with one out in the second inning and loading the bases with two outs in the seventh. Blank escaped the first jam by getting a strikeout and a groundout. He ended the game by inducing a routine flyout to left.

Blank retired the side in order three times. Eastern's hits were an infield single by Lucas Jensen leading off the second, Stephen Corona's leadoff single in the fourth and Danny Vicari's two-out infield single in the seventh.

Vicari, a former Casa Grande Union standout, also made the defensive play of the game for the first out in the CAC sixth when he raced a long way from his shortstop position to make a diving catch along the left-field line that robbed Cody Erickson of extra bases.

The Vaqueros pushed across a run in the second. Cody Farrell got aboard on a one-out error, went to second when Manny Ramirez Jr. drew a walk and came around on a broken-bat single by Spencer O'Neil.

The only other hits off Romo, who struck out five and walked one, were Farrell's one-out double in the fourth and a two-out single in the fifth by Andris Rizquez. Romo also retired the side in order three times.

"We have to learn that we can't just fall asleep when Nicco's on the mound," Wente said. "We have to continue to swing the bats and put up some runs late to make it a little bit easier for ourselves."

That's precisely what the Vaqueros did in the second game, building a 5-0 lead through four innings before scoring five in the eighth. They finished with 13 hits.

Tim Hergert led the way by going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. He had an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run double in the eighth.

Farrell went 3 for 5 with an RBI single in the fourth, David Petrino was 2 for 4 with an RBI single in the first, and O'Neil went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Erickson had a third-inning sacrifice fly for CAC, which scored one run in the first inning, two in the third and two in the fourth.

Central starter Justin Seiwald (2-0) gave up two runs in 52⁄3 innings, both in the sixth. He allowed three hits, struck out 10 and walked three.

Carlos Rodriguez recorded the final out in the sixth, with Eastern leaving the bases loaded. Sam Myers kept the Gila Monsters off the board in the seventh and the eighth, and Sean Maxon pitched a scoreless ninth. Eastern did not have a hit off CAC's relievers.