PRESCOTT, Ariz. – The Yavapai College softball team earned a doubleheader sweep over the Chandler-Gilbert Community College Coyotes on Tuesday afternoon at Bill Vallely Field, coming from behind in game one to secure a narrow 5-4 victory, before dominating in game two to capture an 11-2 run-rule win. 

"I'm very proud of how the girls came out," Head Coach Kali Pugh said after the pair of victories. "This is a hard-working group and it shows with how they show up for seven innings every game. They deserve all the good that is coming their way!"

With the wins, YC rises to 5-3 in conference play on the season while holding an overall record of 5-10. 

Game One
Sophomore catcher Amanda Pay opened the first ballgame of the day with a clutch two-out two-run triple in the bottom of the first to give YC a quick 2-0 advantage. 

After Pay's triple, the YC bats were absent from the second through fifth innings and it was Chandler-Gilbert who took a 4-2 lead after pushing a pair of unearned runs across the plate in the third and hitting a two-out two-run homer in the fourth. 

Heading into the bottom of the sixth down 4-2, the Roughriders rallied and regained their lead in a big way. Sophomore catcher Brina Lankford led the inning off with a pinch-hit single and was followed by a free pass from freshman outfielder Ivannya Perez. 

The next batter, freshman infielder Brianna Baca, wasted no time and sent the first pitch she saw out of the ballpark and over the centerfield wall to give YC a 5-4 advantage while just needing three outs to complete the comeback win. 

Freshman pitcher Samara Romero went back out for the seventh and got the aforementioned outs without allowing a run to clinch the aforementioned victory. Romero went the distance in game one and allowed just two earned runs while striking out six. 

Baca led the Roughriders at the plate with two hits while Pay, Lankford, freshman outfielder Emmersyn Villa, sophomore infielder Torie Au, freshman infielder Hayden McGuire, sophomore outfielder Meghan Kelly and freshman infielder Charley Pitrat all finished with one. 

Game Two
The second ballgame of the day featured far less drama than game one for the Roughriders as they dominated from start to finish, starting with a stellar diving catch from Kelly in centerfield to retire the first batter of the game. 

Appreciating the defensive effort was YC's game-two starter, freshman pitcher Jordyn Busseri, who went all five innings while allowing just two earned runs and striking out three. 

In the bottom of the first, Au singled in a run to give Busseri and the Roughriders an early lead, however, the lone run was just a small preview of what was to come in the second inning in which YC plated six. 

Baca started the second-inning scoring with a one-out double to push the score to 2-0. One out later and with the bases loaded, McGuire walked to score another run and bring Pay to the plate. Pay promptly smoked a two-run double over the centerfielder's head to push the lead to 5-0. 

The next batter, Kelly, pushed an 0-2 two-run single through the middle of the infield to give the Roughriders their fifth two-out RBI of the inning, a six-spot in the inning and a 7-0 lead in the ballgame. 

In the bottom of the third, Villa singled home a run to put the run-rule into effect, however, CGCC launched a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to cut its deficit to 8-2 and keep its comeback hopes alive. 

The Roughriders had no intentions of playing past five innings and answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 11-2 lead. The trio of runs came on a leadoff homer from Kelly and back-to-back jacks on back-to-back pitches with two outs from Perez and Baca. 

In the fifth, Busseri retired the Coyotes while allowing no runs and took home the win while clinching the sweep for YC. 

Baca and Villa led the squad with three hits each in the second game while Kelly and Perez each had two. Au, McGuire and Pay all finished with one. 

Up Next
The Roughriders are back in action on Saturday, March 16, in Phoenix, Arizona, where they will take on the South Mountain Community College Cougars in a doubleheader that starts at noon.