PRESCOTT, Ariz. – As the day transitioned from morning to afternoon on Saturday at Roughrider Park, it was apparent that the wind would make sure it was a great day to hit and a rough day to pitch. 

Such circumstances helped every fan in attendance get their money's worth as the Yavapai College baseball team won a couple of slugfests in its sweep of the Eastern Arizona College Gila Monsters with final scores of 11-10 and 21-19 (six innings), respectively. 

"What a crazy day with the wind," Head Coach Patrick Woods said after the wild day of baseball. "We knew we had to compete in every inning and our guys did that. These are great team wins."

After Saturday's sweep, the Roughriders now sit at 10-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play. 

Game One
While the second game of the day would steal the show, game one was no slouch either. Freshman pitcher Collin Adams started on the mound for the Roughriders in game one and was much better than his stat line read. Adams tossed four innings and saw eight runs cross the plate with only four being earned while tallying eight strikeouts. 

Down 2-0, the Roughriders took their first lead of the day in the bottom of the second on a bases-loaded walk from freshman outfielder Nathan Nichols and two-run single from sophomore catcher Wailele Kane-Yates. 

The 3-2 YC lead did not last long and quickly turned into a 6-3 deficit after EAC pushed four runs across in the top of the third. 

YC, however, needed just two innings to retake the lead once more as sophomore catcher Luke Moeller launched a solo homer the opposite way in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit to just two. In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore infielder Riley Nelson crushed a monster two-run homer to tie things up at 6-6. 

After Nelson's game-tying homer, a couple of free passes set sophomore outfielder Ryan Pruitt up with a great scoring opportunity and he promptly delivered a go-ahead double to make it 7-6 YC. An error later in the inning allowed two more Roughrider runs and the home team led 9-6 with three innings left to play. 

The Gila Monsters were unfazed after watching their lead disappear for the second time in game one and immediately answered the Roughriders with a four-spot in the top of the fifth to continue the seesaw battle and take a 10-9 lead. 

In the aforementioned frame, the Roughriders, already trailing by one with the bases loaded and just one out, turned to sophomore pitcher Austin Humphres to limit the damage. Humphres did just that and struck the next hitter out looking, before getting a popup to end the threat. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Kane-Yates tied the ballgame up at 10-10 with a sacrifice fly and was followed by a 1-2-3 inning from Humphres in the top of the sixth. 

In the bottom of the sixth, YC took its third and final lead of game one on an error and clinched the victory in the top of the seventh with another 1-2-3 frame from Humphres who retired all eight batters he faced in the game. 

Nelson led the Roughriders in the game with three hits while sophomore outfielder Nolan Sparks, sophomore infielder Pierce Radke, Kane-Yates, Pruitt and Moeller all finished with one. 

Game Two
The lack of lights at Roughrider Park limited the second ballgame of the day to just six innings which makes YC's 21-19 win all the more impressive. Even more impressive? The Roughriders overcame deficits of nine and six, respectively, to capture the improbable win. 

Freshman infielder Elias Avila roped an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning for YC, however EAC held a commanding 9-1 lead after two and a half innings played. 

Naturally, insanity ensued in the bottom of the third inning and the Roughriders rallied for nine runs to take a 10-9 lead in the ballgame. In the frame, Nelson launched a two-run homer, Pruitt doubled in a run, Moeller tallied a sacrifice fly, Nichols singled in two, freshman infielder Kevin Ramos singled and saw two runs score on a throwing error and Nelson capped off the rally with an RBI triple to the wall for the lead. 

Unrelenting were the Gila Monsters, however, as EAC pushed five runs across in the top of the fourth to take its second lead of the day at 14-10. 

In the bottom of the fourth, YC cut its deficit to just one on an RBI double from Pruitt who also scored on an error and an RBI single from Sparks. 

More madness was on the schedule in the fifth inning as the high-octane offenses were at it once more with the Gila Monsters striking first, pushing five more runs across the plate to take a 19-13 lead. Freshman pitcher Eli Oshiro made sure it was just five Gila Monster runs that scored in the frame as he came on with one out and the bases loaded and was able to tally back-to-back strikeouts to keep things at bay. 

Having already overcome a nine-run deficit and watching its brief lead evaporate into a six-run deficit, the Roughriders entered dangerous territory in the bottom of the fifth inning, especially once the sun went down which essentially put an unknown timer on gameplay. 

Luckily, after a leadoff out, the Roughriders were up to the challenge and then some as the offense pushed seven runs across the plate in the frame to miraculously take a 20-19 lead. 

In the inning, freshman infielder Nick Miller singled in a run, Pruitt singled in a run, Moeller singled in a run, Nichols hit a mammoth game-tying three-run homer to right and Kane-Yates gave the Roughriders the lead for good with an RBI single to bring the score to 20-19 in favor of YC. 

With light and visibility dwindling, the teams continued the ballgame in the sixth inning and this time, the YC pitching staff settled in with a scoreless inning from freshman pitcher Traig Oughton. 

The scoreless frame, however, didn't come without the defensive play of the day for the Roughriders. With two outs and a man on third, Oughton uncorked a wild pitch which sent the Gila Monster runner into a mad dash for home plate. Moeller, however, pounced from behind the plate, threw his catcher mask, located the ball and flipped it to Oughton who covered home plate and tagged the runner out to preserve the one-run lead, sending the Roughrider dugout into a frenzy. 

In the bottom of the sixth, YC scored once more on a passed ball to bring the score to 21-19. After the bottom of the sixth, the umpires ended the contest and YC took home the incredible victory to earn the sweep on the day. 

Sparks led all YC hitters in game two with an incredible five-hit effort while Pruitt trailed close behind with four. Nichols and Kane-Yates finished with three and Nelson, Avila and Moeller all had two. Miller, Ramos and freshman outfielders Mason Saint Hilarie and Elijah Pak each finished with one. 

Up Next
The Roughriders are back on the baseball field on Tuesday, March 5, in Scottsdale, Arizona, where they will take on the Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes with game one of the doubleheader set for a noon start.