April 26, 2014
BOX SCORES: UNLV 1, Fresno State 0 (8 inns.) | Fresno State 6, UNLV 3
FRESNO, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - After waiting out Friday's rain, UNLV softball and the Fresno State Bulldogs were able to begin their Mountain West series with a doubleheader Saturday at Bulldog Diamond. The opening game turned into a pitcher's duel that was eventually won, 1-0, off a two-out solo home run by Samantha Juarez in the eighth inning by the Rebels. The nightcap; however, went to the host Bulldogs, 6-3, who jumped out to a 6-0 lead only to see the Scarlet & Gray score three in its half of the seventh.
With the split, UNLV moves to 22-26 overall and 12-8 in the MW, while FS sits at 27-18 and 11-6, respectively.
The Rebel offense was led by .500 batting averages by Garie Blando (4-for-8) and Juarez (3-for-6). Four others (Tayler Van Acker, Pauline Monreal, Jamie DePippo and Stefany Valentino) had two hits apiece.
Game One UNLV's Amanda Oliveto (12-13) and FS's Jill Compton (17-8) went toe-to-toe in a pitcher's duel in the day's first outing with each striking out five apiece. The two combined to allow 10 hits and forced the offenses to strand 13 runners in the game - eight of which were in scoring position.
The Bulldogs looked to strike early when they were able to get a runner to third base in both the first and second innings, but Oliveto and the Rebel defense stood strong.
In the fourth, UNLV was able to get its first two batters on base when Juarez and Valentino reached via a double and a walk, respectively. Monreal followed the pair with a fly out to right that allowed Juarez to tag up and take third. With runners on the corners, Van Acker dropped down a suicide squeeze bunt that was fielded by FS's Vonnie Martin at third. Martin tossed the ball home to catcher Paige Gumz, who tagged Juarez out at the dish.
Four innings later Juarez finally was able to touch home plate when she took Compton deep to left center for the would-be game-winner.
Oliveto picked up the win - her third straight decision in as many tries - in complete-game fashion. In the shutout, she only allowed six hits and one walk.
Compton went eight frames, as well, but was on the losing side of the ledger. She surrendered one run off of four hits and two walks.
Game Two The second affair started similar to its predecessor, as neither team was able to plate any runs until the fourth inning when FS got a couple extra-base hits to snap the scoreless contest. Stesha Brazil led off the stanza with a triple before Gumz knocked her in three batters later with a double.
The Bulldogs upped their lead to five in the fifth with help from back-to-back home runs from Michelle Solomon and Brazil. The former shot resulted in three scores, while the latter was of the solo variety.
In the sixth, the home squad added an insurance tally when Gumz tripled to left. She later scored when Brenna Moss flew out to center for a sacrifice fly.
UNLV's offense was finally able to push some runs across in the seventh after leaving nine on base - five of which were in scoring position - from the first through the sixth. The Rebels were able to scatter five singles with the ones by Van Acker and DePippo brining in a run each.
FS's Hannah Harris (8-8) earned the win in 6.1 innings of work. She allowed three runs (two earned) off of 10 hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Compton, who entered the game in the seventh prior to DePippo's RBI single, earned the save (1) with 0.2 innings. She was touched for one hit, but struck out one.
Morgan Ettinger (9-8) was saddled with the loss after giving up six runs off of nine hits. Ettinger went six innings, walked three and struck out one.
NOTES: With hits in Saturday's game, Valentino and Blando extended their hitting streaks to 20 and 17 games, respectively ... In UNLV's career record book, Oliveto moved into a fourth-place tie with Kim Smith (1990-93) in career wins (64).
