RiverHawks Split Wild Doubleheader with Clark
The Umpqua Community College softball team split a dramatic doubleheader with Clark College on March 24 in Roseburg, falling 9–5 in game one before rallying for a thrilling 12–11 walk-off victory in game two.
Game 1 – Clark 9, Umpqua 5
Clark jumped out early and held off a late RiverHawk rally to take the opener.
The Penguins scored three runs in the first inning, taking advantage of an error and two sacrifice flies to grab an early lead. Umpqua responded in the bottom of the inning when Gracie Mello tripled to right field to score Bella Garza, cutting the deficit to 3–1.
The RiverHawks added another run in the second inning on a London O'Brien RBI single that brought home Jordan McArthur to make it 3–2.
Clark regained control in the third inning, scoring four runs on a series of extra-base hits, including a double from Mylee Burrows and another from Zoey Mikkelsen. The Penguins added two more runs in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 9–2.
Umpqua continued to battle late. McArthur drove in Amanda Lloyd with an RBI single in the sixth inning before adding an RBI double in the seventh. Rylie Miller followed with an RBI single to trim the deficit to 9–5, but the rally came up short.
McArthur led the RiverHawks offensively with two hits and two RBIs, while Mello and Camden Kappa each recorded two hits. Amanda Lloyd added a triple and scored twice.
Game 2 – Umpqua 12, Clark 11
The second game turned into a high-scoring back-and-forth battle that ended in dramatic fashion for the RiverHawks.
Umpqua struck first in the second inning when London O'Brien drove in two runs with a single and later scored on a groundout by Camden Kappa to make it 3–0.
Clark answered with two runs in the third and tied the game in the fourth before taking a 5–4 lead in the fifth. The RiverHawks responded when Bella Garza delivered an RBI single to tie the game at 5–5.
Clark surged ahead again with three runs in the sixth to take an 8–5 lead, but Umpqua answered with its biggest inning of the day in the bottom half. RBI hits from Savannah Crawford and Garza ignited the rally before O'Brien drove in two more runs as the RiverHawks pushed across five runs to grab a 10–8 lead.
Clark fought back once more in the seventh inning, scoring three runs to take an 11–10 advantage.
Umpqua had the final response. Savannah Crawford delivered a clutch RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and complete the walk-off comeback for the RiverHawks.
The RiverHawks pounded out 14 hits in the victory. Crawford led the offense with four hits and two RBIs, while Garza finished with three hits and three RBIs. O'Brien added four RBIs, and Camden Kappa contributed two hits.
Ella Martinez-Bryson scored three runs in the win.
Cambria Bachmeier earned the victory in the circle after throwing 5.2 innings for Umpqua.
The split gave the RiverHawks a hard-fought result in a doubleheader filled with offense and late-inning drama at the UCC softball field.
