March 2, 2002

Box Score

ST. GEORGE, Utah - The UNLV softball team pulled within one run of UC Santa Barbara in the final inning, but left the tying run at second base as the Rebels dropped their seventh straight game, 5-4, at the Utah Red Desert Classic on Saturday.

Down 5-3, UNLV (9-12) began the seventh inning with a leadoff single from Kacey Ellis. Melissa Inouye hit into a fielder's choice to replace Ellis at first, and Arica Painter entered the game to run for Inouye. Wendy Godwin then delivered a pinch-hit single and Amber Campbell used a second fielder's choice to advance Painter to third. Lisa Moses collected her second hit of the afternoon to score Painter and put Campbell at second as the tying run. However, Bridget Byrne grounded out to short to end the inning and leave Campbell stranded.

The final inning marked the Rebels' best but not their only attempt at a comeback. UCSB (10-14) jumped out to an early lead, scoring once in each of the first three innings, courtesy of a pair of fielding errors and a solo home run by catcher Stacy Bolton.

UNLV finally pushed its first run of the tournament across in grad fashion in the fourth inning as pitcher Geney Orris dropped her fourth bomb of the season.

A big sixth inning allowed the Rebels to pull within one. They combined a pair of singles and two Gaucho fielding miscues to produce two runs and close the gap to 4-3.

UCSB's Natalie Adame hit a second solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to set the stage for the final inning opportunity.

Despite hitting her fourth homer of the year, Orris (3-3) also gave up two from the circle and drew her third loss of the year. Gaucho starter Katie Junge improved to 3-4.