PHOENIX – Despite the recent rainstorm turning a pair of home games into a road trip, the Yavapai College baseball team persevered and swept the Paradise Valley Community College Pumas at their place on Thursday afternoon with scores of 3-2 and 10-2, respectively. 

"We grinded that first game out," Head Coach Patrick Woods said after the sweep. "We had clutch hitting and great pitching and just battled. We settled in quickly in game two behind great pitching and swung the bats! We will continue to get after it!"

On the season, the Roughriders, having won five of their last six, are now 14-11 overall and 9-7 within the ACCAC as they continue to push for a spot in the region playoffs. 

Game One
The margin for error in the first ballgame of the day was razor thin for the Roughriders and every time a big-time at-bat or big-time pitch was needed, they answered. 

Sophomore righty Barrett Skaugrud set the tone for YC as he got the start on the hill in game one. Skaugrud tossed six innings and allowed two runs, neither of which were earned, and just three hits while striking out four and earning his fourth victory of the season. 

Skaugrud received immediate run support from the Roughrider offense as sophomore outfielder Blake Jacklin singled to start the game off and later stole second. Now with two outs in the top of the first, sophomore infielder Ethan Thomas doubled to center to bring Jacklin home and give YC a quick 1-0 lead. 

The hot start was just what the doctor ordered as Paradise Valley's sophomore righty Liam O'Brien settled in nicely and started a pitching duel between himself and Skaugrud. 

While the Roughriders tried to get O'Brien out of rhythm, the Paradise Valley offense supported its pitcher with a run in the bottom of the third and a run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead against Skaugrud and the Roughriders. 

Six outs away from defeat, the Roughriders were determined to not let a pair of unearned runs cost them a great start from Skaugrud and, instead, rallied in the final two innings of play. 

It started right away in the top of the sixth as freshman catcher Wailele Kane-Yates stepped up to the plate to lead things off and launched his first homer of the season to tie the game at 2-2. In the bottom of the sixth, Skaugrud set the Pumas down in order to keep the game tied, heading into the final inning. 

At first, it seemed as if Paradise Valley would have a great chance to score one run and walk things off in the bottom of the seventh as it recorded two outs in just four pitches to start the top of the seventh. 

The tides began to turn with the next batter, however, as freshman infielder Pierce Radke doubled to center. The next Yavapai batter was intentionally walked and to counter, the Roughriders sent freshman infielder Quinn Allen to the plate as a pinch hitter. 

On a 1-2 count, Allen promptly delivered a clutch single to center that scored Radke and gave YC its second lead of the day at 3-2. 

Now three outs away from victory, thanks to Allen's go-ahead RBI single, YC sent sophomore righty Zach Hose to the mound in relief of Skaugrud and he set the Pumas down in order to claim his second save of the season and clinch the 3-2 victory and win for Skaugrud. 

In addition to the hits by Jacklin, Thomas, Kane-Yates, Radke and Allen, sophomore outfielder Jackson Lapiner also tallied a hit on the day to bring the Roughriders hit total in game one to six. 

Game Two
The Roughriders took all of the drama out of game two and dominated from start to finish, starting with their game-two starter: freshman righty Dillon Orr. Orr earned his fourth win of the season with six scoreless innings, just two hits allowed and four strikeouts. 

After another stellar performance by Orr, the Roughrider bullpen limited the Puma bats to just two runs in three innings, including a scoreless frame from freshman righty Kaden Schiefelbein. 

While the pitching staff put up zeros, the Roughrider offense went to work and scored runs in six different innings. 

In the top of the second, the Roughriders took a 2-0 lead on RBI doubles off the bats of sophomore infielder Mitch Wood and freshman catcher Avery Isola. 

One inning later, sophomore outfielder Jude Hall brought a run home with a sacrifice fly, YC scored on a passed ball and Lapiner singled in a run to bust the game open and give the Roughriders a commanding 5-0 lead. 

Later in the ballgame, Thomas singled a run home in the sixth, Jacklin tallied a sac fly in the seventh, Lapiner scored on an error in the seventh, Wood tallied an RBI groundout in the eighth and Jacklin brought home the 10th run of the game in the top of the ninth with a solo homer to right field, his team-leading third homer of the season. 

At the plate, Jacklin and Thomas each finished game two with three hits while Wood had two. Allen, Lapiner, Isola and freshman infielder Niko Rosell all finished with one in the ballgame. 

Up Next
The Roughriders are back on the diamond on Saturday, March 25, in Mesa, Arizona, where they will take on the Mesa Community College Thunderbirds with game one of the doubleheader set for noon.