SMCC Softball Opens ACCAC Play with Wins over Phoenix College, Mesa CC

PHOENIX ---

The South Mountain Community College softball team (5-4, 3-1 ACCAC) opened its 2025 ACCAC season with doubleheaders against Phoenix College and Mesa CC. The Cougars split their twinbill at the Bears on Feb. 1, posting a 6-3 victory in game two after falling in game one by the same score. SMCC posted a doubleheader sweep on the road three days later at Mesa CC, defeating the Thunderbirds 10-3 and 6-3 on Feb. 4. 

Phoenix College Recap

The Cougars and Bears battled on the opening day of the conference slate, with SMCC posting its fourth road win in 29 chances in the series since 2013. 

Game one saw Phoenix College jump out to a 2-0 lead off SMCC starter Aryka Ortega in the second inning. SMCC scratched one run back in the third when sophomore Elise Saucedo delivered a two-out RBI single to bring home freshman Eva Harrison. 

However, the Bears responded with a grand slam in the fourth off freshman Nuvia Urquiza to take a 6-1 lead. 

The Cougars kept fighting, and sophomores Nadia Rascon and Michelle Balcazar hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth to set the stage for game two.

Saucedo finished 2 for 3 with one RBI and a stolen base, and Rascon also went 2 for 3 with the deep fly. Sophomore Jada Montoya also had two hits, including a double. 

Ortega took the loss with 3.1 innings of work. She allowed five hits and three earned runs with two strikeouts. Urquiza went 2.2 innings with two hits, three earned runs, and two walks. 

In game two, the Cougars rallied for four runs in the sixth to split the twinbill. PC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first off SMCC starter freshman Alyssa Jemio, but the Cougars responded with two in the second. 

Balcazar walked, a pitch hit sophomore Sadie Su'a, and Jemio singled to start the frame and load the bases with no outs. Saucedo drew a bases-loaded walk to earn an RBI, and freshman Jerzey Jarvis singled to bring home Jemio. 

The Bears tied the game in the fourth and took a 3-2 lead in the fifth. That set up a four-run sixth inning that propelled the Cougars to the win. 

Su'a and Jemio walked to start the inning, and sophomore Jessica Wallace tied the game with a pinch-hit RBI single. With runners on second and third and one out, Jarvis reached on an error that scored two and gave SMCC a 5-3 lead. Sophomore Sabrina Erran then plated Jarvis with a two-out RBI single. 

Ortega tossed the final two innings and worked around two hits to earn the save. Jemio picked up the win with five innings of work, in which she allowed five hits, two earned runs, and one strikeout. 

Mesa CC Recap

SMCC swept the doubleheader with the Thunderbirds to improve to 3-1 in their first four conference games. 

The Cougars scored five runs in the first inning of game one as Montoya, Su'a, and Wallace all singled and scored to start the frame. Balcazar and sophomore Jasmine Campos later scored on Jarvis's two-out, two-run single. 

After Mesa CC cut into the lead with three runs early in the first, Ortega entered the circle and held the Thunderbirds to four hits over the next 6.2 innings. She fanned five and walked one to record her first win of the season. 

SMCC posted four runs in the fourth to extend its advantage. Su'a and Wallace reached with one out, scoring on a single and an error off the bat of Balcazar. With two outs, freshman Tazia Blake cleared the bases with a two-run double to score Balcazar and sophomore Sadie West. 

The Cougars tacked on a run in the seventh when Montoya plated Harrison with an RBi single. 

Montoya and Su'a had two hits, while Jarvis and Blake each had two RBIs. Freshman Kaeliann Glass added a double, and Harrison recorded a pair of stolen bases. 

SMCC powered its way to a doubleheader sweep with a 6-3 win in game two. Rascon started the scoring with a two-run double in the first, bringing Montoya and Erran home. She later scored on a sacrifice fly from Glass. 

MCC took advantage of an error in the third to cut the advantage to 3-2, but SMCC scored two in the fifth and one in the sixth to pull away. 

Su'a singled with one out in the fifth and scored on an RBI double from Glass. Harrison then delivered a two-out RBI single to bring Glass home. In the sixth, a Thunderbird miscue allowed Rascon to score. 

Su'a earned the win in the circle with three innings of relief work to improve to 2-1 on the year. She allowed two hits, one earned run, and three walks to go with five strikeouts. Ortega recorded her second save by retiring the side in the seventh with two punchouts. Jemio started the game for SMCC and went three innings with one hit, two unearned runs, and one walk. 

Rascon finished 2 for 3 with two runs, two RBIs, and a walk, while Glass was 2 for 3 with a run and two RBIs. Sophomore McKenna Kraft had the team's third double, while Erran recorded a career-high three stolen bases. Montoya added a pair of steals, and Harrison had one.