On the heels of shutting down the Rio Hondo lineup yesterday, sophomore right handed starting pitcher Alese Graham (3-2) (Redlands East Valley) tossed six strong innings, surrendering two runs, both unearned on nine hits and walking one.

The Roadrunners would open up the scoring in the top of the first with a couple of unearned runs which scored on singles to enter field, giving Desert a 2-0 lead.

SBVC came back with two runs of their own with sophomore short stop Lauren Melchor (Redlands East Valley) hitting a leadoff double then coming home on a single to center by sophomore first baseman Alicia Morris (San Bernardino Cajon). Later in the inning, sophomore second baseman Serena Ovalles (Redlands H.S.) would hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring sophomore catcher Laurie Haro (San Bernardino Aquinas) from third base, tying the game at 2-2.

Both pitchers were throwing a gem of a game as each team couldn't get a run across. Defensively, SBVC had their hands full and answered splendidly. In the top of the fifth, with two outs, a runner was gunned down at home plate by a fantastic relay from freshman center fielder Jesikah Fortunato (Colton H.S.) to Melchor to Haro to end the frame.

In the bottom of the sixth, SBVC took the lead as Fortunato led off the inning with a double to left field and after a ground out to second, she advanced to third. Then Graham hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Fortunato, giving SBVC a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Morris stepped into the circle to finish off the game and walked the first batter on four pitches, then had the next batter on a 3-0 count, before fighting back to a full count. At which time the Desert batter promptly hit into a double play, thanks to the alert play of sophomore third baseman Tina Acosta (Colton H.S.) who started the 5-4-1 around the horn. With two outs, the next batter walked and then the next Roadrunners batter hit a ball down the first base line that had Graham diving in the dirt for the ball and tagging first base before the runner got there.

Information, Photos & Story provided by SBVC Sports Information.