April 21, 2000

SALT LAKE CITY - The UNLV softball team earned it's first conference road win Friday, defeating Utah 7-4 in game one, but were edged out 7-6 in eight innings of the night cap. UNLV improved to 16-32 overall and 2-10 in the Mountain West. Utah finished the day 28-20 and 8-4 in league play. The Rebels will head to Provo, Utah to take on BYU in a doubleheader beginning at 1:30pm (MST).

In game one, UNLV rallied in the 4th inning scoring four runs and pulling even with the Utes, 4-4. Geney Orris started the rally with a lead off walk. Linda Garza singled to right field and moved Orris to second. Celeste Alvarado also walked to load the bases. Charelle Ainslie earned a RBI the painful way, being hit by a pitch. Debbie Hatch reached on an error to bring in another run and Nicole Miller, who was 7 for 7 on the day, capped the rally by singling to right field, driving in Ainslie.

The Rebels insured the victory with three more runs in the top of the 7th. Miller and Erica Vollweiler both singled to place runners on first and second. Racheal Goodpaster loaded the bases via a hit by a pitch. Orris RBI singled to left field, scoring Danielle Ferreira, who was pinch running for Miller. Goodpaster would score the last run with the help of an error by the second baseman.

In the nightcap, UNLV again rallied in the 7th from a 6-2 deficit to pull even with Utah. Goodpaster led off the inning with a single. Orris singled and Alvarado RBI singled to bring in Goodpaster. Ainslie blasted a 3-run homerun to clear the bases. The shot was her third of the season and 18th RBI. The rally would fall just though as the Utes ended the game in the bottom of the 8th scoring one run.