March 22, 2015 Box Score
SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV softball team (14-17 overall, 0-3 Mountain West) lost the final contest, 7-3, in its three-game, Mountain West series to the San Diego State Aztecs (20-12, 3-0) Sunday afternoon. The Rebels held a one-run lead, 3-2, through two innings before the Aztecs reeled off five unanswered scores for their third straight victory by a margin of four runs at SDSU Softball Stadium.
The Scarlet & Gray got things started with a run in the first off a sacrifice fly by Alyssa Cordova, which came moments after Samantha Juarez led off with a triple.
SDSU answered back in the home half of the first when Kayla Bufardeci smashed a two-run single off the right-field wall. Bufardeci played the antagonist role for the Aztecs throughout the contest, as she accounted for four of the team's seven RBI.
The Rebels countered with two runs in the second with the assistance of a throwing error and an RBI single by Garie Blando. Jamie DePippo led off the stanza with a single to left-center before moving to second after Brooke Stover's sacrifice bunt. SDSU then summoned Erica Romero (18-9) into the circle in relief of Sydnee Cable. Jade Yadao-Valdez greeted Romero by hitting a double down the left-field line to put runners in scoring position. Cordova then hit a grounder to Aztec shortstop Samantha Camello that was errantly thrown to first base and allowed DePippo to score. Blando then laced a single to center to push UNLV ahead by one run at 3-2.
The Aztecs created another stalemate in the third when Bufardeci was credited with an RBI bunt single that plated Lorena Bauer, who reached earlier off a one-out triple.
The home side pulled ahead for good with a four-run, three-hit fourth inning. Kayla Jordan had the big hit in the frame with a two-run home run, while Bufardeci capped the scoring with an RBI off a bases-loaded walk.
Romero was credited with the win - her third of the weekend - in 5.2 innings of relief. She struck out one; allowed one unearned run and three hits. Cable was touched for two runs (one earned) off of four hits in 1.1 frames of her start.
Janine Petmecky (0-5) was tagged with the loss in one inning of middle relief. Petmecky, who entered with one out in the third, gave up four runs off of four hits and three walks.
Morgan Ettinger and Kwyn Cooper combined to throw 5.0 innings. The former got the start and lasted 2.1 frames with three runs off of four hits against her. The latter, on the other hand, walked one and surrendered two hits in the final 2.2 stanzas of the game.
After two straight weekends in San Diego, UNLV returns to Las Vegas to open its home portion of the MW campaign against the New Mexico Lobos from March 27-29. The first game of the series is set for Friday, March 27 with a 6:00 pm first pitch. All three contests will be streamed live in conjunction with the Mountain West Network and those video links as well as live stats can be found at UNLVRebels.com. Tickets for each game are $8.00 for adults, $6.00 for senior/faculty/staff, while children 12 and under are free. Fans can purchase tickets online - up to three hours before game time - for only $5.
