Sandra Day O'Connor baseball coach Jeff Baumgartner said his team just played its game. Mesquite knew what that game was and prepared for it on Wednesday at its practice.

But come Thursday night  SDO executed its game and Mesquite did not respond in kind as the No. 3 seed Eagles clipped No. 6 Mesquite, 5-1, in the round of eight of the Division I state tournament at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Well-executed bunts mixed with poor defensive added up to SDO scoring all five of its runs in the third and fourth innings to reverse a 1-0 deficit. Toss in six strong innings from lefty sophomore Cameron Ming and SDO finds itself in the winner's bracket  semifinals on Saturday against Chaparral at 4 p.m. at Muny. Mesquite faces Desert Mountain for tournament survival  in the loser's bracket at 1:30 on Saturday at Muny.

"That (bunting) is our baseball," Baumgartner said. "It's tougher this time of year sometimes to make plays. Those plays are magnified in the playoffs and that's what happened tonight."

Mesquite (22-8) used a run-scoring ground out from Brad Holland in the second to grab the early lead. Mesquite starter Tanner Wilson gave up a hit in each of the first two innings, but seemed to have things going his way peppering the outside corner.

The beginning of Mesquite's demise came in the third when SDO's No. 8 hitter Michael Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a balk. The bunt game immediately followed with Jade Bilbrey setting one down to third. Mesquite's Ozzie Rodriguez madea nice barehand pickup, but his throw was low allowing Gonzalez to score and Bilbrey to pull in at second. Two outs later designated hitter Noah Kelly ripped a ground-rule double to left to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.

"We knew they liked to bunt, worked on it in practice," Mesquite coach Jeff Holland said. "You have to make the plays when the lights go. It really looked like we never worked on it. It was embarrassing."

The lights pretty much went ouf for Mesquite in the fourth. Brendon Erickson singled to lead off the inning for SDO. That was the only hit of the inning. Back-to-back errors on bunts (one a throwing error the other a fielding miscue) loaded the bases. A wild pitch, a passed ball and sacrifice fly combined to bring in three runs for the 5-1 advantage and ultimately the final score.

Meanwhile, Ming (6-3) was solid. He allowed six hits and one walk in his stint. He escaped big trouble in the fifth after getting the first two hitters out. A single, double and walk followed to load the bases.That brought Mesquite's best hitter -- Garrett Jeffries--  to the plate. Jeffries slapped a grounder between first and second. SDO first baseman Owen Sanborn ranged to his right but came up empty. Second baseman Bilbrey gloved it and threw to first with Ming covering nipping Jeffries at first to end the inning.

"They're a good hitting team so to hold them to a run was outstanding," Baumgartner said. "(Ming) threw three pitches at any time in the count for strikes. He came up big for us."

Casey Howard had the only multiple hit game for Mesquite going 2-for-3. Erickson was 2-for-3 for SDO.