MESA, Ariz. – The Yavapai College softball team headed south on Saturday afternoon to continue the first week of its 2023 campaign and fell in both games to the Mesa Community College Thunderbirds with scores of 8-1 and 12-9, respectively. 

Game One
The first game of the doubleheader started out as a pitching duel as the Roughriders and Thunderbirds headed to the bottom of the fifth tied at 1-1 with the lone YC run coming on an RBI double off the bat of freshman utility player Darby Kramp while Mesa scored on an RBI single. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Mesa took a 2-1 lead on an error and then put the contest away with a six-spot in the bottom of the sixth. The Roughriders were held scoreless in the top of the sixth and seventh innings to bring the score to its final of 8-1. 

Kramp, along with freshman infielder Maritza Celaya, freshman utility player Torie Au, sophomore utility player Genavie Espinoza and freshman catcher Amanda Pay, each tallied one hit in game one. 

Game Two
In the second game of the afternoon, the Roughriders fell short on a couple of comeback attempts as Mesa built a 7-1 lead heading into the top of the fourth. 

In the frame, the Roughriders tallied a pair of runs on bases-loaded walks, a run on a sacrifice fly and two runs on an RBI single off the bat of Au to make it a one-run ballgame at 7-6. 

Mesa responded to the Roughrider rally with a run in the bottom of the fourth and two runs in the bottom of the fifth to push the score to 10-6 in their favor. YC, however, would mount another comeback attempt in the top of the sixth. 

This time, Au doubled in a run and was followed by an RBI double off the bat of freshman utility player Aly Savage. On the next play, Espinoza cut the deficit to 10-9 with an RBI single to bring home Savage, pulling the Roughriders within a run for the second time in game two. 

After the RBI-hit outburst, the Roughriders saw the Thunderbirds score twice in the bottom of the sixth to regain a three-run lead and were unable to push any runs across in the top of the seventh to bring the game to its final of 12-9. 

Au tallied three hits on the day while Savage and freshman outfielder Meghan Kelly each notched two. Kramp, Espinoza, Pay and freshman catcher Brina Lankford all had one hit apiece in game two. 

Up Next
The Roughriders are back on the softball field on Tuesday, February 14, in Phoenix, Arizona, where they will take on the Paradise Valley Community College Pumas with game one's first pitch set for 1 p.m.