PRESCOTT, Ariz. – The No. 13-ranked Yavapai College baseball team took care of business in its home opener Friday afternoon, defeating Community Christian College with scores of 7-4 and 11-1. The Roughriders are now 6-3-1 on the season as they head into ACCAC play. 

Game One
Sophomore righty Nate Ward started the first contest of the day and pitched five innings of one-hit ball, struck out six and allowed two runs (one earned). Freshman righty Jackson Thomas pitched the sixth and struck out three while sophomore righty Tyler Davis got the seventh and closed the contest with a couple of strikeouts. 

The Roughriders started quickly in game one, tallying three runs in the first inning. Freshman infielder Alex Ulloa and sophomore outfielder Ryland Zaborowski set the table with a couple of hit-by-pitches. Ulloa scored on an error and freshman utility man Ben Zeigler brought home another run with a double to the left-center gap. 

Zeigler then came around to score on an error after stealing third base to give the Riders their third run of the frame. 

After Community Christian scored twice in the top of the fourth to trim YC's lead down to 3-2, the Riders tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore infielder JT Taylor started the inning with a walk and came around to score on a two-out RBI double off the bat of Zaborowski who then scored on an RBI single off the bat of sophomore infielder Jo Stevens to bring the score to 5-2. 

Not backing down, the Saints of Community Christian countered with two more runs in the top of the sixth to trim the YC lead to just one again. 

In the bottom of the sixth, freshman infielder Rocco Gump was hit by a pitch and with two outs in the inning, Taylor made the Saints pay with a two-run blast to right field that put Yavapai up 7-4. 

With some insurance runs and needing just three outs for a victory, the Roughriders held the Saints scoreless in the top of the seventh for the 7-4 win. 

All seven runs for the Roughriders came with two outs and four of their five hits went for extra bases. Zeigler led the way in the hit column with two doubles, Zaborowski had a double, Taylor hit a homer and Stevens had an RBI single. 

Game Two
Redshirt-sophomore lefty Cal Lambert took the game two start and went five innings, struck out five and allowed just two hits and one run (unearned). Freshman lefty Justin Hanson pitched a scoreless sixth and struck out the side while sophomore righty Ethan Bell pitched a scoreless seventh with one strikeout. 

Sophomore infielder Kade York started the scoring for Yavapai in game two with a two-run bomb over the scoreboard in left in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman utility man Barrett Skaugrud singled in a run later in the inning to give Yavapai a 3-0 advantage. 

In the bottom of the third, the Rider put up a six-spot to put game two out of reach. Taylor hit a solo homer to start things off, Zeigler then doubled in a run, redshirt-sophomore outfielder Amari Bartee followed with an RBI double, sophomore catcher Alton Gyselman brought home a run and sophomore outfielder Brycen Tambone rifled a two-RBI double down the left-field line for an exclamation point on the inning and a 9-0 YC lead. 

The Saints pushed a run across in the top of the fourth, however, when the bottom of the seventh came around, the Roughriders still needed just two runs for the run-rule victory. 

Bartee smoked the first pitch he saw to right field and motored all the way to third to lead the inning off with a triple and scored one pitch later on a bullet RBI single up the middle off the bat of York. 

Just one pitch later, Gyselman made it a three-pitch inning as he smoked a double to the left-center gap to drive in York and give the Roughriders the 11-1 victory. 

Overall, York paced the squad in hits with four while Gyselman, Bartee, Taylor and Zeigler finished with two and Tambone, Skaugrud and freshman infielder Ethan Thomas all had one. 

Up Next
Yavapai now heads to conference play with its first stop set for Tuesday at noon in Tucson, Arizona, where they will play the Pima Community College Aztecs. Live stats will be available for the contest on GoRoughriders.com/Live.