Thunderbirds stumble early; drop Double Header to Central Arizona

Mesa, AZ – On the heels of splitting a double header with Glendale this past Saturday, the Mesa Community College softball team (11-18, 8-17 ACCAC) struggled to get their offense going on Tuesday afternoon in Mesa as they were swept by the Central Arizona College Vaqueras (23-6, 19-3 ACCAC) by scores of 4-0 and 6-2.  

Game One  

The day started with a pitcher's duel between the two sides. Mesa's freshman Gaby Lopez and Central Arizona's sophomore Devin Hally combined to toss five strikeouts and allowed zero runs through the first three innings of play.  

Then in the top of the fourth, the Vaqueras struck first when sophomore Felicia Medina drove home freshman Samantha Soto with a RBI single out to center, giving Central Arizona the first lead of the day, 1-0.  

The Thunderbirds did their fair share of threatening in the fourth inning as well with a single from sophomore Leighann Ballesteros and a walk from Emerald Grijalva.  

But the inning ended with missed opportunities, allowing the Vaqueras to remain unscathed.

Central Arizona built onto their lead in the fifth when freshman Ashleigh Withers roped a RBI double to centerfield, and freshman Brittany Holland and sophomore Lindsey Smith followed with runs batted in of their own to give the Vaqueras a 4-0 lead after five innings.  

The Thunderbirds stayed alive in the sixth, but Central Arizona ultimately came away with the 4-0 victory in game one.  

Game Two  

The second game of the double header saw the Vaqueras staying hot right out of the gate.  

Scoring four runs in the first inning, headlined by a two RBI double from Soto, allowed Central Arizona to take a 4-0 lead after one inning of play.  

The Thunderbirds looked to do damage of their own in the second when Grijalva connected on a one-out double, followed by a single out to leftfield from sophomore Andrea Lugo, but back-to- back outs ended the rally for Mesa.  

After the Vaqueras scored two more runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 advantage, Mesa's freshman Jordan McClellan and Central Arizona's freshman Kyrstan Garcia sat down the opposition with ease over the next two innings of work.  

Then in the seventh, a RBI triple from freshman Arilena Martinez and a RBI single from sophomore Raychele Hernandez helped fuel Mesa's potential comeback.  

But the Thunderbirds fell just short in their pursuit, dropping the second game by a
score of 6-2.  

The Thunderbirds will look to get back to their winning ways when they travel north to take on the Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes this Saturday in a double header set to start at 5:00 p.m. MST.