By ED PETRUSKA Contributing Writer Pinal Central

SIGNAL PEAK – Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson acknowledged he wasn't at his best on Saturday. But the Central Arizona College baseball ace also received zero run support as the third-ranked Vaqueros lost 2-0 to Eastern Arizona in the opener of a doubleheader at McSwain Field.

"I didn't have my stuff," Wilkinson said. "Some days, that happens. You just have to go out and compete."

Wilkinson came into the game leading the nation in ERA at 1.04 and strikeouts with 110 in 69 innings pitched. The sophomore left-hander left-hander sustained his first loss of the season despite allowing just three hits and striking out seven in five innings.

Wilkinson (9-1) also issued four walks, one shy of his season high, and uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch. Going in, he had not allowed more than one walk in nine of his 12 starts.

"One bump in the road doesn't define who we are," Wilkinson said.

Normally, opponents don't have a chance when Wilkinson is pitching.

"I always try to attack the hitter (with the attitude that) 'I'm better than you.' I don't treat them any differently. Today I may have because I didn't have my stuff," he said.

Wilkinson has a four-pitch repertoire (fastball, curveball, slider, changeup) "and I like to think I use every pitch effectively," he said. "I believe in all four."

The Gila Monsters scored an unearned run in the third and made it 2-0 when Junior Lopez, a former Poston Butte standout, scored his second run of the game on a wild pitch in the fifth. Lopez came home on Khalil Walker's sacrifice fly in the third after hitting a leadoff single, stealing second and taking third on an errant pickoff throw by Wilkinson. Lopez drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, took second on a sacrifice bunt and stole third.

Braden Gluth pitched a seven-inning complete game for Eastern, limiting Central to six singles. The right-hander struck out five and walked three.

The best scoring opportunity for the Vaqueros came in the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out on singles by Marcus Harrison, Ashtin Webb and Fisher Pyatt. Gluth (8-2) then got a called third strike and a lineout to short to squelch the threat.

CAC grounded into inning-ending double plays in the first and fifth. The Vaqueros left a runner at second base in the second inning and a runner at third in the sixth.

Harrison went 2 for 2 with a walk.

Daniel Davila worked two perfect innings in relief of Wilkinson, striking out three.

The Vaqueros (44-8, 31-5 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) bounced back with an eight-inning run-rule victory in Game 2, smacking six extra-base hits in the 11-1 win.

Webb hit his third homer of the season and went 4 for 4 with four RBIs as CAC scored one in the second, two in the fourth, seven in the sixth and one in the eighth. Blake Avila was 3 for 5 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored.

Jonathon Hernandez drove in two runs with his second home run of the year. Harrison had a triple and a game-ending RBI groundout in the eighth, and Braydon Rogers and Lou Albrecht each contributed a double.

The Gila Monsters (24-26, 13-21 ACCAC) scored their run in the fifth.

Central starter Luke Meyers (2-0) went five innings, allowing one run and three hits. The right-hander struck out four and walked one. Jasiah George struck out five of the eight batters he faced in working the sixth and the seventh, and Jack Seward pitched a scoreless eighth.

Central has clinched the No. 1 seed in the Region 1 tournament. The Vaqueros will host the fourth seed in a best-of-three semifinal series that begins May 4.

CAC has four regular-season games remaining -- Tuesday at home and Wednesday away against GateWay (both nonconference) and an April 29 doubleheader at Yavapai.