Arizona Western Holds Off Thunderbirds for Softball Double Header Sweep, 8-3 & 6- 1
Mesa, AZ—At the conclusion of two highly contested battles, the Mesa Community College softball team (16-27, 12-24 ACCAC) lost both games of their Arizona Community College Athletic Association double header with the Arizona Western College Matadors (35-9, 29-5 ACCAC) by the final scores of 8-3 and 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon in Mesa.
Despite multiple runs scored by sophomore Amanda Hernandez and freshman Valerie Macias and three hits and two runs batted in for freshman Leighann Ballesteros throughout both games, the Thunderbird trailed by two or more runs through the first three innings of each game and were never able to fully recover.
Game One
In sophomore Allyea Elwell's third start of the season for the Thunderbirds, the Matadors put their first two batters on base allowing freshman Mariah Young to bring both runners home on a base hit.
Arizona Western then proceeded to score six runs over the next two innings with the help of another RBI single from Young and a bases clearing double from sophomore Shannon McCasland to give the Matadors a 8-0 lead going into the bottom of the third.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Thunderbirds scored their first runs of the game when a single from sophomore Brittney Ramos scored Hernandez and then a sacrifice fly out to centerfield from Ballesteros scored Macias from third cutting the deficit to six runs at the end of three innings, 8-2.
Mesa's Elwell was able to retire 10 of the next 13 Arizona Western batters, and a RBI single from sophomore Kayla Bradford cut the deficit to five, but the Thunderbirds weren't able to close the gap and fell to the Matadors by a score of 8-3.
Game Two
What looked to be a pitchers dual through the first two innings of play between Mesa's sophomore Nikki Verdugo and Arizona Western's freshman Karly Turner quickly became a 2-0 Matador lead in the third inning when freshman Hailey Cookson and Young batted back-to-back runners across home plate.
Arizona Western then strung together three more runs in the fourth inning behind yet another double from Young, this time of the multi-RBI variety, giving the Matadors a 5-0 lead going into the fifth inning.
The Thunderbirds scored their only run of the game in the fifth inning when Ballesteros scored Macias on a single to center, and even though Bradford was able to reach first base in the seventh inning on an error, they again fell just short of the Matadors in game two, 6-1.
The Thunderbirds will next be in action this Saturday when the GateWay Community College Geckos come to Mesa for a double header starting at 12:00 p.m. MST.