March 29, 2002
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
LAS VEGAS - BYU scored six runs in the top of the seventh to win the opener 7-3 and cruised to a 6-1 victory in the nightcap of a Mountain West Conference doubleheader against the UNLV softball team on Friday.
UNLV (18-24, 0-2) led the Cougars 3-1 through six innings in the day's first game before BYU exploded for six unanswered runs in the top of the seventh. After back-to-back leadoff singles, Rebel starter Nicole Truax intentionally walked BYU cleanup hitter Oli Keohohou, who represented the go-ahead run, to load the bases. Brooke Cadiente followed with a walk for an RBI to cut the Rebel lead to 3-2.
BYU (23-11, 2-0) then went back to hitting, using a single and a double to drive in three more runs and take a 5-2 lead. UNLV went to reliever Geney Orris to get out of the inning, but not before BYU used a sac bunt and another single to cap its scoring and post a 7-3 lead.
Before surrending its lead, UNLV overcame a 1-0 deficit, scoring two runs on a pinch-hit RBI single by Kacey Ellis.
Niki Andersen earned the rescue win to improve to 6-3 on the year while Truax dropped to 3-6. Pauline Glenn was the Rebs' offensive hero, going 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI.
The Cougars continued to roll into the nightcap, scoring in the first inning off Rebel starter Jackie Kerrigan. After Kerrigan hit the first batter, walked the next and gave up a single to load the bases, Cadiente delivered an RBI single to put the Cougars on top for good.
BYU enjoyed another big inning in the second game, stretching its lead to 5-0 in the third. Four of the inning's first five batters singled off Kerrigan before Orris came in to pitch in relief for the second time in the day. Orris gave up a two-RBI double to BYU's Kari Pringle before escaping the inning.
The Rebels scored their lone run after Orris hit a leadoff double and came around to score on a Cougar fielding error.
Kerrigan fell to 7-11 after losing her fifth straight start while BYU's Ariel Capra improved to 8-2.
UNLV played the day error free and has now gone errorless in five straight games and committed just one in the last seven.
The games were the first in Mountain West Conference play for UNLV this season. The Rebels will try to break into the league win column on Saturday when they host the University of Utah in a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at Eller Media Stadium.
