TEMPE — Throughout their 4A state baseball playoff run, the Sunrise Mountain Mustangs have been riding the "energy bus."

That imaginary vehicle hit a major speed bump on Wednesday night — the defending state champion Nogales Apaches. Behind a dominating pitching performance by Markie Lopez and several uncharacteristic Sunrise miscues, Nogales took the first leg of a 4A state semifinal 6-0 at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

"Lopez flattened the tires on the energy bus tonight," said Mustangs Head Coach Eric Gardner. "That dude is one of the best pitchers in the state. He threw an unbelievable game and you have to tip your cap to Markie tonight — that’s the best arm we’ve seen all year."

Markie Lopez was indeed the man of the hour for Nogales, only exiting the game in the seventh because he had reached his pitch limit. He shut out Sunrise, scattering just four hits while striking out 10 Mustangs.

"I shook his hand after the game," Gardner said. "He kept us in check."

The defeat was the first for Sunrise Mountain (27-4) in nearly two months. Sunrise Mountain had won 17 games in a row with their last loss March 17 — a 7-2 setback to Tempe Corona Del Sol.

Nogales, top seeded among the 16 teams vying for the 4A title, lost in round two of the playoffs to Salpointe Catholic 4-2 then rebounded to knock out the Lancers 5-2 on May 5. They’ll now get their chance to return to the title game as the two teams, both with one pool loss, meet again for the Pool A championship at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.

"We have a tough bracket. But we’ve known since the fall the state title goes through Nogales," Gardner said. "We will be ready to go on Saturday."

Wednesday’s game began as a duel between a pair of aces — Markie Lopez and Sunrise Mountain’s Troy Balko — but the defense let down the Mustangs in the top of the second as Nogales plated a pair.

With one out, a sky-high popup by Marcel Bachelier fell in front of second baseman Jacob Stockton. Jesus Lopez walked to put two runners on. Bachelier moved to third on a Balko wild pitch and scored on a single by Mario Duarte to make it 1-0.

Luis Rodriguez, pinch running for Duarte, later came home on a sharp base hit by Kenneth Jimenez that eluded SMHS shortstop Tyler Pruitt. Nogales led 2-0 after an inning and a half.

"There were plays we needed to make that we didn’t," Gardner admitted. "I think we got caught up in playing a bit too deep tonight. They have some power bats but we needed to play more straight up — our guys were having to make some long runs."

The Apaches (29-5) threatened again in the top of the third but Balko induced an inning-ending double play off the bat of Alec Acevedo to keep the Mustangs within two runs.

Nogales added on in the fourth as Bachelier launched a towering solo shot over the right field wall to give the Apaches a 3-0 lead. As "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" played over the PA system, the SMHS coaches used a mound visit to settle Balko down.

Meanwhile, Markie Lopez was gaining strength on the mound for the Apaches. He struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth inning to increase his punch out total to five on the night.

In the top of the fifth, more shoddy defense cost Sunrise Mountain. A fly ball dropped between Stockton and right fielder Noah Thompson. The play was ruled an error and Jimenez cruised into second base as the Mustangs lamented how another seemingly routine fly ball fell to the grass.

A pair of Balko walks loaded the bases. Jesus Lopez then made SMHS pay by dropping a two-run single into center field — Jimenez and Acevedo scored to extend the Apaches’ lead to 5-0.

"Troy (Balko) needed to throw his best game and he didn’t throw badly but when you get a pop up and it drops, a Texas Leaguer that drops — that’s hard to swallow," Gardner said.

The Mustangs put a runner on in the bottom of the sixth but any thoughts of a rally were snuffed out when Markie Lopez fanned pinch hitter Alec Myers to end the frame. The Apaches plated another run in the seventh off Mustangs’ reliever Garrett Moltz to cap the scoring.

Markie Lopez, technically listed as Nogales’ No. 2 starter, held the Mustangs at bay all night. He threw 6.1 innings to earn the win before reliever Gerardo Martinez secured the final two outs in the seventh.

Markie Lopez struck out the side twice — in the fourth and in the sixth. Balko (4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) was tagged with the defeat, falling to 8-1 this season.

Bachelier led the Apaches offense with two hits. He reached base in all four of his plate appearances. Ethan Snodgrass, Jarrett Kellerhals, Caleb Thomason and Thompson had the four Mustang hits, all singles.

"We’ve already moved on," Gardner said. "I told the guys don’t leave the dugout unless you’ve changed your mindset to a positive. We believe we have enough pitching to beat them and if we do that, we believe we’ll win the state title. Bottom line."

Sunrise Mountain's Caleb Thomason, left, tags out Nogales' Jesus Lopez in a rundown on May 9 at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]