March 23, 2012
BOX SCORE: Lipscomb 2, UNLV 1
BOX SCORE: Ball State 5, UNLV 1
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Rebels (14-14) suffered two losses on Friday at Cal Poly's Mustang Classic held at Bob Janssen Field. UNLV dropped its first game, 2-1, to the Lipscomb Lady Bison (17-7) before a 5-1 setback to the Ball State Cardinals (17-7) followed.
Both Tayler Aleman and Paige Emerson tallied two hits on the day. Aleman and Jaexie Balilea recorded an RBI, while Emerson and Emilie Valadez scored a run apiece.
Against Lipscomb, the Lady Bison built up a 2-0 lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth and held off a come-from-behind attempt by UNLV in the 2-1 decision.
The Lady Bison broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth with a lead-off solo home run by Kelsey Cartwright to left field. LU got two more singles and a walk to load the bases, but was unable to capitalize on the situation.
They tacked on a second run behind three singles. Following singles by Rena' Cothron and Mollie Mitchell, Caroline Mason hit an run-scoring single to add an insurance run.
UNLV scored its lone run in the sixth when Emerson reached on a fielding error by Bridgette Begle at shortstop before moving into scoring position on a groundout. Aleman then hit an RBI double to right center to score Emerson from second.
In the seventh, the Rebels loaded up the bases behind a hit-by-pitch to Korin Cuico, a double by Stefany Valentino and a walk issued to Heather Harrison. Unfortunately, Whitney Kiihnl got the next two batters to out, including a deep fly to left center by Emerson.
Kiihnl improved to 14-4 on the year with the complete-game victory. She allowed one unearned run on three hits. She struck out four against two walks.
Amanda Oliveto dropped to 9-8 with a loss in six innings of work. Oliveto struck out five, but allowed two runs, seven hits and three walks to the Lady Bison.
Against Ball State, the teams scored a run apiece in the second before the Cardinals plated four in the third to pull away in the game.
The Cardinals used a suicide-squeeze bunt to score the first run. Sadie Robertson dropped down the sacrifice bunt that scored Audrey Bickel, who initially walked, from third. Bickel moved over to third following a double by Amanda Carpenter down the line in left.
UNLV countered with an RBI single by Balilea to even the score at 1-all. Kylie Wagner led off with a walk before giving way to Valadez as a pinch-runner. Cuico then sacrificed Valadez over to second before Balilea's base knock.
BSU managed to score four times in the third off an RBI double from Hanne Stuedemann and a three-run homer off the bat of Bickel.
Audrey Workman moved to 9-5 with the win in seven innings of action. Workman was touched for one run on three hits. She walked four against three strikeouts.
Jessica O'Connor was saddled with the loss in 2.1 innings of work. O'Connor dropped to 5-4 on the year, as she allowed five runs on four hits.
Amber Petersen threw the final 4.2 innings of relief for UNLV. Petersen struck out five and gave up three hits.
UNLV returns to action on Saturday with a pair of games against Ball State and Lipscomb. The Rebels open up with a 10:00 am affair with BSU before a 5:30 pm affair with LU.
